Frozen City
by LukasDeAudi
Summary: World of Humans, frozen war-torn place was a surprise after going through the Portal. On the top of that, someone is targeting scouting parties in the wasteland, leaving all dragons alone, but taking humans. There's someone, who wants to use the Portal, and needs one particular human to start it up for them. Loose sequel to Case of Khymera.
1. Chapter 1

Gray, sticky snowflakes flew through the air, as strong north winds propelled them through a frozen wasteland.

Figures of two dragons in dark, protective suits fought against the wind, one having more problems doing so.

"I don't know, Sebastian," yelled the flyer female dragon at her companion, "I don't think Anna would go that far. She has to be near the first wreck." She shielded herself with one of her wings, which were useless under current conditions. Sticky ash and snow mixed together were settling down on her, covering up the greyish pattern of her protective suit.

Sebastian waved at her, and they both kneeled down in deep snow. "I think I see something, " he said, as he pulled out his binoculars.

The storm prevented anyone from surprising our two heroes. Adine wiped the glass of her mask of melting cold mess. Sebastian took hold of his harpoon rifle, he had placed on his back the whole time. Even though dragons could be dangerous opponents in melee combat, against firearms humans carried, had a little to no chance. Sebastian however, could utilize his almost human hands and use long-range weapons effectively. Adine was filling the role of a scout, flying high above the surface and warning her colleagues on the ground. In the current storm though, that was impossible.

Sebastian looked through the binoculars once again before he was sure the air was clear. He waved at Adine and they moved out.

In the front of them was a wreck of a singular armored vehicle. Sebastian pressed down on his radio to send a message, "Angels two-one, we've got contact."

Adine shivered. There was a trail of blood in the ashen snow. It was going inside the wreck. Around it, snow could tell stories. One heck of a battle had to happen there. Adine put her wing-talon on Sebastian's shoulder and pointed at her finding. Sebastian gave her a thumbs up, and with a weapon out, he made his way towards the blasted vehicle.

"I dare you, one more step and I'll shoot!" yelled someone from within the broken vehicle. It sounded more like a whimper than a solid threat. Sebastian sighed in relieve.

"Anna! It's me, Sebastian. We've got your message," he said, as he returned the rifle on his back and went inside the wreck. Adine closely followed.

Anna was stiff from the cold, buried waist down under the broken pieces of metal. Sebastian went to examine her state. He kept talking to keep the downed dragon awake. Anna was struggling.

"What happened to your convoy? Why did you get separated?" Those were Sebastian's first questions. He unpacked the survival gear, along with the heater unit to unfreeze Anna a small bit. Digging her out of the remains of transport could prove difficult in her current condition. Anna was speaking during all of that.

"Our leader ran over a landmine. Convoy tried to ride around him, only to get right into an ambush. I commanded my driver to get us out of there. However, we weren't quick enough and hostile forces caught up with us soon. What you see around here is thanks to an RPG shell they had to fire at us. I can't really tell, because I've blacked out a few moments later."

Anna's head fell down. She was losing consciousness. Sebastian reached out and gave her cheek a gentle slap. "Stay with me, Anna. What happened next?"

Adine crouched next to freezing runner and adjusted the heater unit, so it was more effectively warming Anna up. Sebastian went outside for a moment. Radio chatter could be heard, also as a distinct sound of a signal flare being fired. Their escort would arrive soon. Hopefully,... 


	2. Chapter 2

"How bad it is?" asked a deep voice.

Anna was lying in a hospital bed, facing upwards. Someone was holding her hand. Guessing from three-fingered grip and odor of fresh seawater, it could be only one person - Adine.

"She's the only one we've managed to rescue, sir. Rest of the convoy crew is MIA, sir, " replied a young male voice. Anna listened as carefully as her ringing head allowed.

"Keep your voice down, she's coming to herself," said the soft female tone on her left. Adine was rubbing Anna's wrist with her talon.

Anna raised herself from the mattress. She was sitting up, facing her friends from the old times - Bryce and Sebastian.

Bryce looked at her with one of his hazel eyes and smiled, "You look great, Anna."

Sebastian joined, "Yeah, considering you beat cancer just a month ago, and almost froze to death yesterday..."

"Kiss my rump," laughed Anna, "Can I get a cup of coffee? I could use a pick me up."

Bryce and Sebastian looked at each other and nodded simultaneously. Bryce gave Anna a smirk, "Of course, milady. Would you like whipped cream on it?"

"And three pieces of marshmallow..." added Sebastian.

Adine laughed from her corner, "You add marshmallows to hot chocolate, you goof," she pointed out. Sebastian blushed.

Anna tilted her triangular head to the side, "No, just a plain serving of my cup of joy will be alright, thank you very much."

A tall figure emerged from a rusty door frame, a human in a long coat with shaded glasses on his nose.

Adine was first to jump up and embrace the human. She called out the name of her partner, "Alex!"

Sebastian tipped his police hat with a greeting, "It's good to see you, sir." The brown runner would sell all his things for his hat. It was one of the things he brought from the dragon world with him, and it reminded him of his career, and how was life simple.

Bryce greeted the human in similar, maybe less formal, way. He didn't have any hat to tip anyway, so he at least nodded.

The last one was Anna. She waved her claw in Alex' direction but soon after complained where was her coffee. Fortunately, Alex solved the situation. He put his backpack on the ground and pulled a cylindrical metallic liquid container.

"I've thought you might want a sip after you wake up. It should just be ready for drinking," he said.

Anna looked at Alex, as if he was serious, or making fun of her. She then accepted the holder, opened and sniffed the contents. "Strong and sharp as a razor blade. You passed this time, human."

Adine, holding onto Alex' arm frowned. She could stand Anna when they were alone, or even during work. Once the red scientist started to make fun of Alex though, all the fun went out the window.

"Be glad he brought you anything. Do you know how hard is to get coffee around here?" hissed Adine.

Sebastian raised both of his arms, "Whoa, calm down, you guys. Adine, you know Anna's sarcastic tongue. And Anna, try to get along with people. We need to work together."

Anna sipped her coffee, "Whatever,"

Adine frowned at her even more.

Alex crouched next to Bryce and said, "I've actually come to debrief Sebastian and Adine. The government wants answers."

Bryce sat down, as well as Sebastian. The brown runner crossed his legs in a Turkish sitting position and used Bryce's side as a makeshift backboard. Bryce grinned at him but didn't say a word. Adine positioned herself in more bird manner, next to Alex. Anna was tending to her coffee without a care of anything else.

Alex straightened his coat, fixed his glasses, so they would sit firmly on his nose and speak up, "So, what did you two find upon arrival?"

Sebastian took the honors on himself, "To be honest, nothing out of the ordinary. Five of six convoy vehicles were there and in pieces. Signal beacon was up. Wrecks weren't looted and the crew was missing."

"You forgot to add only humans were missing. Those two escort dragons were dead, but their corpses left behind," added Adine.

Sebastian pointed his finger at her, "Right. We were getting a signal of a second beacon few steps further. We went to investigate and became grounded in the storm. Fortunately, we had gotten to the beacon in time and rescued Anna."

"And the situation was the same I presume. Dragons left behind, humans taken?" asked Alex to clarify. Sebastian and Adine, both nodded in unison.

"It was like they didn't even notice me," said Anna, who started paying attention, "I'd expect to get a bullet between the eyes, but no. I've gotten out alive with a few freeze burns." She extended her arm and let Alex take his Thermos bottle. "Thanks for that coffee by the way. It was exactly what I needed," she added.

Alex smiled slightly at the red dragon, but couldn't resist and pointed out, "Well, that was a year supply of coffee. No more of your favorite drink in the city."

"No, you can't be serious," yelled Anna. Just the idea of being out of coffee raised her to feet. She was standing on the bed, pointing her talon at Alex. "You better not be effing with me, mister!"

Alex laughed, along with everyone else in the room, "Calm down, you hothead, our colony is not out of coffee. I just need to pull some strings to get more."

Anna growled, shook her head and sat back down. She pulled the cover over her head, making something close to a tent.

Ring of a bell announced the end of visit hours. Everyone who wasn't patients had to leave. Alex and Adine said their goodbyes and left first. Bryce sent Sebastian ahead and he turned to Anna for a moment, "Remy says that he's sorry he couldn't make it. He sent you flowers, but hospital staff didn't allow it."

Anna rubbed her talons together, "Well, I am surprised he didn't forget at all. It was a bad idea. We don't like each other, but have to act like parents around Amely."

"He's at least polite enough to give you a different room to dwell in, Anna. He tries. Give him some credit." said Bryce.

"But he keeps breaking stuff. Weren't it for the magical gadgets that restore broken things, we'd be out of dishes by now. And he insists to treat me like his guest all the time," argued Anna further.

"Once again, same thing. Maybe a gentle nudge you don't want that would work, but knowing Remy, he's stubborn." chuckled Bryce a little.

One of the assistants looked through the glass and frowned at Bryce. He nodded and raised his front leg in an apology. He then turned to Anna for a brief moment, "Get well soon. We can't let such a brilliant mind unoccupied."

Anna shook her head, "Damn I hope so. I'll be crawling these walls any minute now. They don't even allow me to read a book, say its contagious and it could kill me."

"I'll see about a home care permit. Hold on until then, Anna," said Bryce and left. On his leave, he gave the frowning assistant a playful wink. Said woman didn't accept it and kept her distance from the dragon. Bryce brushed against her and disappeared into the corridor.

Anna was left alone. She sighed. What to do?


	3. Chapter 3

Anna almost went insane during her two-day stay in the hospital. She would take sleeping pills and nap the day away. The medication she was receiving had the opposite effect, though. They were making her all hyper. She couldn't sleep and boredom was her best friend.

Bryce was trying to help her a small bit. Alex chipped in as well. He had a talent of smuggling things in the hospital building. Along with portions of coffee Alex was getting who knew where, they brought her newspaper, book, and fresh food. Nutrition paste she had to eat was making her even more irritated. It tasted wrong, it smelled wrong, and she wanted to throw up just at the sight of it. Anna was glad to leave the hospital early.

After a short trip, Anna knocked on her home's entrance. Echoes of four legs moving could be heard and certain white dragon opened the door.

"Hey Anna," said Remy cheerfully upon spotting her standing in the doorway. "They let you out of the hospital?"

"No," Anna walked into the apartment and closed the door behind herself, "I am on the run. The whole city is looking for me."

Remy tilted his head to the side. He looked confused. "Seriously?"

Anna facepalmed, "I was being sarcastic. A dumb answer for a dumb question." She brushed past Remy and sat down on the couch in the living room.

Remy followed her closely, "How did you get out so early then?"

Anna leaned back into soft cushions. She closed her eyes and said, "Bryce got me out with a home care permit, even if it's just for a day. I am going back to work by tomorrow."

Remy smiled and sat down on the floor next to Anna. "It's great to hear you are going to recover. Amely was worried about you, you know."

Anna lifted one of her eyelids, "And you weren't worried about me at all, huh?" poked Anna the topic.

Remy blushed slightly, "O-of course I was worried, but on the other hand, I know how tough you are. Heh, nothing is gonna break you, Anna."

Anna closed her eyes once again. She took a deep breath, "Thanks for the compliment." She remained seated and didn't move.

Remy shook his head, "I didn't expect you, so if you are hungry..."

Anna interrupted him, "I am not hungry and will gladly wait half a day for dinner." She stood up and showed Remy her back, "I'll be reading in my room. Knock on the door if you'll need anything."

Bryce and Sebastian arrived in the Central Office a bit later than usual. Central Office was a place similar to a town hall. It had the Peacekeepers station, resource manager's office and shelter for those less fortunate. Our two dragons were so-called Peacekeepers, the force of law in the city. The human governor put them in this position right after the arrival, based on Alex' recommendation. Adine worked under the roof of Central Office as well. She was helping around in the shelter, as it was making her happy to see others smiling.

Sebastian went to see Adine. He wanted to have a chat with her before his shift would start. Bryce headed right into their shared office. He did not expect to find Alex and the government agent there.

Alex was uncomfortable, guessing from his body language. The agent in a black suit with a red tie stood stiff and still like a statue.

"I hope you understand the weight of the situation, Mister Tomazuki. Government is unhappy with the involvement of your precious dragons in the case," spat the agent out.

Bryce felt a weird shift inside his gut. That human wasn't acting right. Something had to happen. He spoke up, "Gentlemen, I hear a word 'dragon' and no dragon is in sight. What is going on?"

Alex opened his mouth, but the cold agent was faster, "Let me explain, Mister Tomazuki. Today, one of the resource convoys was attacked. Just like yesterday, every human was killed."

Bryce raised an eyebrow, "And?"

The agent continued, "The only one who has survived is a flyer support dragon. She is currently traumatized and grounded in her home."

"Did you attempt an interrogation? She might know something," asked Bryce.

"Yes, about that. Before she's broken down, we've managed to get some info about the one behind the attacks. It is a dragon, who targets humans exclusively. They live with its gang in the near vicinity of steam geysers," finished the agent his monologue.

"It is an emergency then. We need to dispatch a team and find the rogue dragon," chirped Bryce. He attempted to warm the atmosphere with a grin, but both Alex and the agent were both frowning. Bryce frowned as well then. "I'll go talk to my people and we assemble volunteers for the mission."

"I'd prefer if you'd choose from our human selection, rather than your dragons. We don't know who's on our side, and who we can be trusted," said agent, "Until then, keep me informed on the progress."

As soon as the human in suit was out of the way, Alex sighed deeply. "Well, I've thought I've got enough of these clowns for a lifetime. Remember Khymera, Bryce?"

Bryce was looking in the direction the agent left. He then turned to Alex, "Unfortunately, yes. She did a number on all of us. Still, I am piecing together what really happened back then," Bryce scratched his head, "I clearly remember visiting Anna in the hospital, and then she died. However, there she is, alive and well. How can I have two different sets of memories is beyond me, to be honest." Bryce turned his eyes on Alex.

The human grinned as if he knew something. He fixed his glasses and said, "Either way, we need to do something. Devil can take those humans, but two resource convoys? The colony will run out of materials soon that way. I'll go and investigate this personally."

Bryce looked at the human with one eye, "Are you sure? A human crew is more vulnerable than a dragon one. You'll get killed just like the rest of the victims."

"If it's for a greater good, then so be it," raised Alex his chin. Flash of determination appeared in his shaded glasses. Bryce intensified his concerned expression but the human seemed to ignore the bronze dragon.

Bryce used his paw to prod the human. Alex lost his balance for a moment but didn't fall over. Bryce then put his front legs on the table and looked at Alex with concern, "You've got a good wife, Alex. And friends who care about you. How do you think everyone will react to you going missing?"

"Adine will freak out but will get over it. She's a strong one," chuckled Alex nervously. He rubbed his hands in leather gloves together.

"Do you want her to feel that way?" pressed Bryce on. "You've got people who depend on you, Alex. You can't just throw your life away."

"Those lost souls had families as well, Bryce. I might be the only one who can do something about it." Alex sat down in a vacant chair, placed against the wall. He had his head in height of Bryce's eyes. The dragon used it to his advantage. He came over to the human, his bronze snout almost touching Alex' face.

"I hate to admit it," opened Bryce his mouth. Breath of the dragon smelled after cheap alcohol and charcoal. "You might be right. No one in this goddamned settlement would move a finger for those dead people. Heh, half of the humans would say it's a good thing. Fewer mouths, more food in rations."

Alex grinned and chuckled, "Was that a compliment, Bryce? I didn't know you had a soft spot for boys."

Bryce blushed, but didn't back down, "Maybe... I try to hide it so Adine wouldn't get protective." He winked at the human.

Alex contemplated the last words and then blushed as well, "I've meant it as a joke, Bryce. You didn't have to propose to me."

Bryce sighed, walked away from the human and sat behind his work table. A slight shade of red could still be visible around the dragon's nose. "Let it flow, Alex," said the dragon, "We'll decide on the scout team later. I want the whole gang for the occasion. I won't let you do this alone."

"Fine by me, chief. I just hope the government will see it as progress," shrugged Alex and stood up as well. His cloak followed him. At that moment, Bryce could mistake the human for an oversized bat. Alex glanced once again at the dragon and then pointed behind himself with his thumb, "I better be going, or my boss will think I've been abducted as well," he pointed out and left Bryce's office.

Bryce was left alone. He sighed and stared down the pile of paperwork he had to process. How did his life get so boring?

Anna would gladly spend the day off in her room. She had an unfinished analysis of a soil sample. Given the spectrometer was an automated machine, her part ended with preparing and putting the sample in it. Next step was to wait. She was in the middle of the waiting phase, lying face up on her soft bed. In her grasp was the book about the significance of weather cycles. She was half asleep and said book covered her eyes. That human medication did this to her. She couldn't get a proper shut-eye for two straight days. Damn those stupid apes.

The beeping of some kind woke her up. She had a feeling it was too early for the analysis to be done, and she wasn't wrong. It was the landline phone on her wall. Humans used these ancient devices, as they consumed less energy than wireless transmitters.

Anna, still a bit groggy from interrupted sleep, picked up the receiver. She had a feeling there was only one dragon who could be calling her. Again, she wasn't wrong.

"Anna on the phone, speak your mind," she greeted the caller as nicely as she could. Her voice still sounded like two rusty cogs rubbing against each other.

"Bryce here, good day to you too, Anna," The police chief sounded much less tired than her. Anna leaned on the closed door and wrapped the long cable around her finger. She couldn't help but grin.

"What makes my saviour call?" she said. She knew Remy was listening in the other room, and she just wanted to see his face after the call. She also intended to not call Bryce by his name.

"What's with everyone and flirting today? I am an old dragon, I don't deserve this," complained Bryce on the other side of the wire. Anna could feel her lips curl up even more.

Bryce recovered in the next moment, "Anyhow, I could use a hand in a certain thing. It's about missing humans. Alex is involved."

Anna let the wire slip off her talon and frowned, "Humans once again throw their dirt on us." She looked out of the window. Before could Bryce get to act of persuading, she jumped in, "I'll help, save your breath. I am curious who's behind the whole thing as well. When will you be expecting me?"

Something fell over at Bryce's side of the phone. Anna could hear him curse and someone else giggling in the distance. She raised an eyebrow.

"Just before sunset. I'd say six in the evening will be enough," said Bryce. Before Anna could say anything, the phone went silent with a click.

Another beep sounded through Anna's room. Spectrometer finished its job. How convenient.  
_

Sun was hanging low on the horizon. Sebastian threw the shovel on his shoulder and walked with his colleagues towards the Central Office. Government asked the Peacekeepers to tidy up the streets from fallen snow, so Sebastian and his unit were doing just that the whole day. Cold season was almost over, but the weather didn't act that way. Sebastian truly hoped another ice age wasn't on the way. His tail felt like a piece of rock as it was.

Sebastian found Bryce outside of his office, talking to a human female. She could be heard over several blocks of separate rooms.

"This is outrageous! Dragon has no place among the people of this city, left alone dragon sympathizer," screamed the woman. Guessing from her dress alone, she had to be part of the rich minority, justifying her supercilious behaviour. Bryce raised his talon as if he wanted to gesture he had heard enough.

"Ma'am, our Peacekeeper department have the situation under control and the ambassador is looking for the culprit," said Bryce in his deep voice.

It didn't stop the woman in her outburst, "You'll never arrest one of your own. You are corrupted! My husband was right about you. Go freeze to death, you monster!" The human tried to claw on Bryce's eyes. Bronze dragon jumped backwards, showing off his teeth. Sebastian, who was quick to arrive at the scene, grabbed the woman from behind and restrained her from attacking Bryce further.

"Discrimination! Rape! Murder!" screamed the woman all the terms that would work in the past. She struggled to get free, but Sebastian had a strong grip on her. He produced a pair of handcuffs to get the crazy woman under control. She was way too dangerous with her hands-free.

"Good timing, Sebastian. Bring her in for interrogation," ordered Bryce his colleague. He wiped sweat from his forehead. "And I hope this was a sole incident."

An officer, stationed at the door of the Central Office, let Anna in. Everyone knew the red girl around the place, thanks to her sharp tongue and achievements.

Anna didn't need a map to find Bryce's office. She knocked three times, then peeked inside through semitransparent glass. No one was there to greet her. She cursed on Bryce address and got ready to leave.

"Hey, Anna. Are you here to visit Bryce as well?"

Anna facepalmed. She wasn't in the mood for Adine. Not so early after her sick leave.

"Yes," said Anna, "And he happens to be unavailable."

The yellow wyvern bounced on her feet, "Well, I am sure he had a reason. Let's sit down and wait a bit. I am sure he won't be taking long."

As much as Anna would like to argue, or avoid Adine altogether and crawl back into her hole, she had no choice in the matter. If she ever wanted to get some details on the case, she would have to put up with likes of Adine. The yellow wyvern was Bryce's friend, just like Anna was.

"How's Amely doing?" asked Adine. She couldn't stop herself, she had to talk, even if it annoyed Anna to the highest level.

"She's doing fine. Remy treats her as his own and I try to not interfere," responded Anna. She turned away from Adine and hoped the yellow girl would get a hint and stop talking.

Adine got closer to Anna. The red girl could feel Adine's wing on her side. Adine kept pressing the topic, "Why not? Amely is a sweetheart and has an open mind. You two would get along just fine."

Anna facepalmed, "That's exactly it. She's too innocent and would learn bad manners if she was spending time with me. She's far better with that white dumbass. He at least tries to raise her properly."

"Oh, I am sure she wouldn't. Besides, living with both parents is the greatest gift a child can get," objected Adine, still somehow smiling.

Anna's blood pressure kept rising. She would snap at Adine if she didn't change the subject or shut the heck up. "That's questionable, Adine. Some parents are assholes  
\- alcoholics with no future. They beat the children up, or abandon them altogether," said Anna.

"Are you an alcoholic? Did you hit Amely even once?" frowned Adine. Her pink eyes were inspecting every curve of Anna's body.

Anna crossed her arms, "No, but that's not the point..."

"Did your parents do anything you've listed to you? Because, if they did, I am sorry. That doesn't mean you have to act that way, though. Amely deserves to have you and Remy in her life. Give her back those years you've stolen from her."

Adine put the talon on Anna's shoulder after saying that. She gave the red girl an apologetic smile.

"Why do you assume I was abused as a child?" asked Anna with one eye closed. She didn't make a move to get loose from Adine's grip, though.

Adine smirked as if she knew something, "I've worked with tens of children. I know how abused people act."

Fortunately, a shout echoed through the hall and that way, Anna escaped an uncomfortable moment.

"That sounded like Sebastian," Adine's semi-ears perked up.

"Ma'am, calm down..." shouted Sebastian, a slight tone of quite annoyed dragon in his voice. The brown runner was holding the stressed woman by the shoulders. She kept screaming and struggling violently at random intervals from the moment of her being captured.

"She's insane, I've never seen anyone act that way," said Alex behind the glass of the interrogation room. Bryce gave the man another one of his concerned looks and said, "Who knows what her husband told her about dragons."

Alex scratched his chin, "Considering the wild nature of legends about humans your culture had, I wouldn't be surprised if she thought dragons were some kind of hellspawn. Humans are superstitious beings, always were."

Bryce looked down at the panicked woman. She was purple in the face, going through some kind of stress-induced stroke. Sebastian had to cuff her to the chair to take a break. Bryce gave the man a sideways look, "Did your wife tell you? She's an expert on mythology if I remember correctly."

"I want to question that woman myself," said Alex, ignoring Bryce's question, "You can go and assemble the scout team. We need to find the one responsible for those murdered humans ASAP. Take Sebastian with you and buy him a beer. He deserves it."

"Right," nodded Bryce, "Good luck with that lunatic."


	4. Chapter 4

Bryce was to honour the words of Alex and buy his brown colleague man's favourite beverage. Sebastian refused it with a smile, wiped the sweat off his forehead and walked back into the interrogation room. "I am not letting a madwoman hurt the ambassador," he said.

As soon as Bryce was out of the office, he was attacked by a combined flurry of red and yellow.

"I demand an explanation," stormed Anna angrily at Bryce, "You are late!"

"I don't want to be nosy, but some inside details would be nice," joined in Adine.

Bryce looked upon the two females. For some reason, he didn't feel secure. Grin formed on his lips, "Great bad cop impression there, Anna."

Anna, with one claw raised, stopped dead in her tracks. "That wasn't intended. Besides, it was her idea," she pointed backwards at Adine. "Why don't you explain what the hell is going on?" added Anna in a low tone.

Adine, eyes wide, objected, "My idea? You've wanted to..." The wyvern girl waved her talon at backs of leaving Bryce and Anna, "Uhm, nevermind. Hey, wait for me!"

It took Adine more than a few drops of sweat to catch up with the Peacekeeper and the scientist. She was once again with them as they were entering Bryce's empty office.

"Take a seat," invited Bryce the girls in, "Make yourself comfortable. I am going to go and check on Alex. It will be only a while, I promise."

Adine went inside the half-lit office, while Anna objected, "Whoa, mister. I am not gonna let you keep me in the dark. You've once invited me into the team, now own your word."

Bryce sighed and facepalmed, which was quite an impressive display for a dragon of his size, "Fine. You are not making my life easier, you know."

As Anna was about to get going again, Adine raised her talon and spoke up, "So, should I wait here, or can I come with you as well?"

Back to the interrogation room, Bryce felt like a hamster running in a wheel. Anna's energetic steps were behind him, along with a dragging noise, produced by Adine's crescent moon tail.

Through the glass, an apathetic woman could be seen sitting by a metal table. She was tipped over towards one side of the chair, tilted as far as a pair of handcuffs allowed her. The woman's interrogator was a tall man in the long, leather coat. Alex Tomazuki frowned at the sight of a fellow human. Both were silent as if something horrible had happened.

Bryce caught a movement in the corner of his eye and he turned after it. Sebastian was sitting in the corner, his talon waving at the bronze officer.

"Alex sent me to wait outside," announced Sebastian, "He said he wanted some privacy. That female refused to talk in front of a dragon."

"They are not talking much now," pointed out Bryce, "Did something happen?"

"No, she had a mild stroke, then went into delirium. I don't know what Alex wants to do about her." scratched Sebastian his head exchanged the position of his legs.

"I have to admire his patience," emerged Anna from a shadow, "I'd probably bite on her neck already and I don't even know the full story."

"You wouldn't be a good cop then," grinned Bryce, looking over his shoulder in Anna's direction.

"Hey, Anna," waved Sebastian his talon for a second time, "I couldn't see you there. How's the head?"

"I've slept like the dead and would still be asleep if your chief didn't wake me up." Anna moved next to Bryce and nudged the bronze dragon in his ribs with an elbow.

Bryce jumped because he didn't expect Anna to do such a thing. Sebastian covered his face hand, and Adine openly giggled. Anna had a slight smirk on her muzzle.

"Why it has to be me who gets the end of your banter?" complained Bryce. He had a crimson blush around his nose.

"First, your ass is bigger than a truck. Second, you are too soft to do anything about it," said Anna in the most serious way she was capable of at that moment.

"No wonder Remy avoids you in the morning," fired Bryce back.

Before could Anna respond with another snarky comment, Alex appeared on the scene. "Are you multiplying in here? I remember only one of you being in here when I had left."

The laughter died out quickly.

"Did you get any clues out of her?" asked Bryce, who used Alex' interruption as an excuse to ignore smirking Anna on his left and face-palming Sebastian on his right.

Alex looked down as if he was inspecting his shoes, then shook his head, "Unfortunately, no. She refused to speak. I've got her name and that her husband was among those missing people, that's all."

"That's actually better than nothing," said Bryce.

Sebastian opened his mouth, but Anna was quicker.

"Right," Anna pointed her talon at Alex for a second, then let her arms became folded on her chest once again.

Alex walked over to Adine, but didn't break his glance with Anna, "Do you have any suggestions?"

"I'd say, dig up some info on him, then compare with the other samples. That's how I work anyway," added Anna. She was glad someone was willing to listen to her.

"I was actually going to propose that before you had interrupted me," mumbled Sebastian, folded his arms as well and buried himself in the chair. Anna shot a wink in his direction. However, the brown runner had a police cap set over his eyes, so he didn't see it.

"Okay, you two are going to work together," said Alex, pointing at Sebastian and Anna, "Get us some solid facts on the rogue dragon. Anything will do."

Anna looked at sitting Sebastian with a malicious grin on her face. Her green eyes glittered in dim light. Sebastian raised himself from the chair and saluted.

"Bryce, get me five sets of survival gear. We'll assemble the scouts and leave the colony by tomorrow," continued Alex.

"Roger that, but my objection still stands. Human scout team is more endangered than a sole Peacekeeper," pointed out Bryce.

Alex nodded, "Considering recent events, humans want this to be a human's problem. The Peacekeepers' presence would cause all the evidence being compromised."

"Just saying," grinned Bryce, "Adine, it's time to freak out."

"What? I wasn't paying attention," shook Adine her head, fixed the headgear and stopped it from falling off her head.

"Alex here wants to participate in a suicide mission," pressed Bryce on the topic.

Before could Adine say anything, Anna once again jumped into the conversation, "What about the corpse there?" She was pointing at the woman Alex was trying to question.

"Yeah, I've called for a medic. She'll spend a few days in the hospital and then enjoy a day or two with forced labour. I'd call that adequate treatment for attacking an officer," answered Alex without breaking a sweat. Keeping two or more conversations going wasn't much of a problem for him apparently.

"Alex, what is going on?" asked Adine, who had no idea what was happening for the past few minutes.

"Later," cut Alex his girlfriend off, "Does everyone understand their assignments?"

Anna and Sebastian nodded. Bryce shot Alex one last glance before leaving.

Alex caught up with Bryce on half of the way back to the office.

"About the survival gear..." started Alex.

"It will be ready. I am not sure if it's okay to keep your wife in the dark, though," said Bryce without looking back at the human.

"She doesn't need to know the full story, besides I am sure someone will fill her in eventually," gestured Alex a sweeping motion with his hand, signalling the topic was over and he didn't wish to talk about it. "I've made my mind and I am leaving in half an hour before the sun sets," added Alex.

"Eager, aren't you? Okay then," said Bryce, "I won't try to stop you. Get your people ready in the garage, I'll take care of the gear."

* * *

"Alex seems tense, don't you think?" whispered Sebastian on Anna's left. Bryce sent them to the garage with the survival gear, probably as an excuse to not face the human again.

"I'd be as well if my species was endangered, Sebastian," argued Anna. Her talon was going over the long checklist of things Bryce had given her. Alex would be gone for three days. His team of five humans would need a lot of supplies to survive out there.

"I think Bryce has forgotten to pack forensic equipment," said Sebastian, who was going over his pile of supplies on the other side.

"They are gonna be poking in the ruins of these convoys. Alex changed the description from 'investigation' to 'rescue'," corrected him, Anna.

Sebastian looked at her sideways, "How the heck I don't know about it? I am Bryce's right hand!"

"Congratulations. You've finally realized Bryce doesn't like you," smirked Anna.

Weren't it for her grin, Sebastian would be shocked, "That's not very funny."

"It is, you just need a right sense of humour," said Anna, "Alright, everything matches. Let's go." She convoluted her checklist into a fancy roll and put it in the tool belt she was wearing.

"Hey, wait. Where are you going?" Sebastian put a piece of cloth over the boxes he was checking and ran over to Anna who was on the leave towards Alex and his team.

"I want to say goodbye to Alex before he leaves. Three days is a long time," said Anna.

"I can't object, really," waved Sebastian with his talon in a height of his waist, "I am surprised you care enough to say goodbye."

"I am not heartless, you moron," said Anna. The insult sounded more like a chuckle, rather than an offence.

"You seem like one sometimes," pointed out Sebastian. Once he had seen a look in Anna's eyes though, he corrected himself, "And I say that, only because you are my friend."

"Be glad I can't use my tail as a whip," growled Anna playfully.

"Trust me, I am glad for that," wiped Sebastian some sweat of his forehead, "Stars, it's so hot in here."

The two approached Alex. He was giving a briefing to his group of humans. They all looked like a solid military unit, so Alex was standing out with his long coat.

"Who are these guys?" asked Anna under the breath. Sebastian whispered back, "Mercenaries. The government would never approve an operation on such short notice."

The two dragons arrived, close enough for Alex to notice them, "Anna, Sebastian," he started, "Are the supplies ready?"

"Yes, as ready as they can be," replied Anna.

"Hey, scaly faces arrive. How are you doing, assholes?" waved and yelled one of the mercenaries. He had an automatic rifle on his shoulder, his armour suggested he belonged in some kind of heavy force. He was rather short and had a skull tattoo over his eye.

Anna threw a frown the general direction of four mercenaries, who were laughing.

"Ignore him," said Alex and took the two dragons aside, "I presume Bryce sent you. Did Adine follow you?"

"I don't think so," said Sebastian.

"Good," Alex took down his glasses and dusted them off before fixing them back on his nose, "I don't want her to see me in a company of such...low lives."

"Yeah, I get that," nodded Anna, "Should we tell her anything?"

"Just keep her safe and don't allow her to follow me. I don't want her getting hurt," frowned Alex and looked over the shoulder. Four men behind them were comparing the size of their guns.

"Roger that," Sebastian extended his hand for a handshake, "It's been an honour, sir."

"Anna has a bad influence on you, Sebastian," grinned Alex before accepting the handshake.

"Okay, I am offended," said Anna. Before she could fold her arms, Alex grabbed her in a hug.

"Come here, you ice queen," he said.

Anna struggled for a bit, "Let go! You are ruining my reputation," she whispered. After a few seconds, she pushed into Alex' chest, "That's enough, I am not talking to you anymore."

Alex let the red girl go. She was blushing heavily, spots of red getting even into her lighter shaded semi-ears. Alex waved at them once more, then turned his back at them and walked towards the other humans.

Anna realised Sebastian was staring at her. "What?" she snapped at him.

"Nothing. I refuse to testify," he looked away from Anna, his pupils getting smaller.

"You are lucky I don't hate you that much," growled Anna, "Come on. We still have work to do."

* * *

One vehicle convoy wouldn't attract much attention. They might even make it. Alex sat in a command chair, next to the driver, who was smoking his third cigarette from the time of their departure.

"Dude, quit that smog makin', I can't see back here," yelled one of the mercenaries in the back of the vehicle.

"Fuck you, I haven't seen a good fag in fucking months. The government pays it anyways," barked the driver back.

"Dude, he's just saying, if you get fucking wasted and a firefight breaks out, it's your own ass," said another man.

"Screw you," mumbled the driver in between the puffs.

Alex sat on the sideline, thinking about his life choices. Cigarette smoke was making it hard to see through the windshield. They were driving blind. After their departure, in less than ten minutes, a storm arrived. A huge amount of new snow was settling on the vehicle and the temperature was dropping. They would be lucky to find a suitable road, let alone find a wreck that had been out there for days. It was his mission, though. He had to recover the supplies and with luck, gather some evidence on the one guilty.

* * *

Anna and Sebastian walked out of the garage, just to run into Adine.

"Is Alex still there? I need to stop him," blurted out the wyvern. She looked upset.

"No, his party just departed. He didn't want you to be there," smirked Anna, "But don't worry, he still loves you, I think."

Sebastian put a hand on Adine's shoulder and frowned at Anna, "Now it's not the time for your jokes, Anna. Adine, can I do something for you?"

Anna waved her talon at the officer, "Whatever, I am going back to the office. I still have the stuff to talk about with your boss anyway." Anna then walked away from the scene.

"Why would Alex do this? Why?" sniffed Adine.

"Come on, you have to be strong," shook Sebastian with her gently, "Alex didn't abandon you."

Adine wiped her eyes, "It sure feels like it."

The guardian angel inside of Sebastian woke up, "Well, I am free for today. Would it make you feel better if I'd take you out for dinner? My treat."

"Anna won't be happy for putting off your part in the investigation," objected Adine, but smiled slightly anyway.

"Anna is no boss of mine, and Bryce gave me an off time for the rest of the day," replied Sebastian, put an arm around Adine and led her towards the exit. "So, what about that dinner?"

* * *

"These are all the files I've got," said Bryce.

Anna looked at the two list dossier and gave the bronze dragon a 'Seriously' glance.

"Don't look at me like that." Bryce tried to justify himself, "Human agents confiscated everything, from reports to a good amount of physical evidence. They don't trust us, I think."

"You think? That's fucking racist, Bryce. And you can't lift your ass and do something about it," face-palmed Anna.

"What am I supposed to do? They are agents with unlimited power, damn it," glared Bryce his teeth.

"Calm down, big guy. This needs brains, not muscles," raised Anna her talon. Before could Bryce object further she continued, "Okay, I'll see what I can do."

With a dossier in her talons, carried like a golden treasure, Anna walked to her lab. She was lucky she didn't share it with anyone else, as everyone refused to be in the same room as her. Those human scientists were weak.

Anna situated herself behind one of the less cluttered tables and put all two papers in front of her.

One list was scarce info on a requisition officer, who went missing with the first convoy. She remembered him, he was the only one who was willing to talk to her and keep up at the same time. He was the one who saved her life actually, by shielding her with his own body against the explosion of the RPG rocket. He had to die, but his death wouldn't be forgotten.

Anna slapped herself. She was a scientist. Scientists didn't mourn the fallen. They used them for their advantage. She was going soft.

The other list was a two-page study on the relationship of the arrested woman from earlier.

"Well, you've made quite a name for yourself," smirked Anna.

The incident that happened just hours ago wasn't a sole event. The mentioned woman had a record of such attacks on public worker dating back as two years. She was kept in the office for one reason only. She knew something about the human governor himself and those in power didn't want the information to see the light of a day.

Anna smirked once again and turned the page. "What do you have in common though?" she asked herself.

There was a detailed description of the woman's husband. Anna lowered her nose to almost meet the letters on the paper.

"Life spent in the military defended the colony, a medal of honour," read Anna aloud in a low voice, "Worked in a team with Doctor Izumi as a support assistant."

Suddenly it hit Anna. She picked up the first paper and read the last lines on her acquaintance, "Worked as an engineer with Doctor Izumi."

This was her clue. She had to tell Sebastian because if she was right, someone was in grave danger.

* * *

Sebastian watched Adine eat. She was a bit hesitant to accept his offer but gave in eventually. Food was given out in portions, so if you would want to invite someone, you had to order from your rations. The colony wasn't struggling, so Sebastian didn't regret his decision. It was a bit embarrassing for him to order a fish because he didn't eat fish that much. He was afraid the officer woman, who handed him the supplies, would gossip about Adine cheating on Alex - the ambassador.

A sound of swinging door echoed through the half-empty cafeteria. Sebastian quickly turned on the chair, his cap slipping and getting into his line of sight. He grabbed the cap a fixed it on his head, only to see Anna standing over him.

"Anna? Why the rush? How did you find us?" asked Sebastian several questions.

"I could ask you the same thing. Anyway, I've got a lead and I need to know something," barked out Anna. Sebastian nodded and motioned with his claw he was listening.

"About those missing humans. Did the bodies resurface later, or were they taken all together?" asked Anna, retaining a serious face.

"From each convoy, one human was MIA, rest were declared KIA upon examination of physical evidence, the dead body. They were all dragged away, shot in the head and left to bleed out in a shallow hole in the snow. Precise work," replied Sebastian, lowering his voice.

Anna pulled out two photos of human victims, "These two were on the killed-in-action list? It's important."

Sebastian scratched his head, "I don't think so. We've gone through all the records, and I don't remember those faces," he said and raised his eyes to Anna, "Before you zip away, care to tell me what the hell had you so worked up?"

"Alex is in danger. Both of these humans worked with Izumi on this world's portal. Alex is the only one remaining who had to do anything with it. I've checked the records," admitted Anna the truth behind her motivation.

Adine, who was just about done with her meal, stepped into the conversation, "If Alex is in danger, I need to get involved."

Anna face-palmed, "Do you have any experience in police work? How do you expect to aid us in any way?"

Adine raised herself from the seat, "Excuse me, I've read more detective novels than you can count with both fingers and toes."

"I've worked with police for years, stripped ass and I don't like your attitude," Anna flashed with her green eyes and tilted over the table to meet Adine face to face.

Sebastian grabbed them both by the shoulders and tore them apart, "Girls, come on. Don't fight like two wyverns over a piece of meat!"

Adine snorted and showed Sebastian her back. Anna folded her arms and gave them both a deep frown.

"Poor choice of words, I am sorry okay. Anna, good work. And Adine, if it is important to you, you can join us," Sebastian took off his cap and wiped his forehead with it.

"Only because of Alex, not you two," said Adine, still turned to Anna and Sebastian with her back.

"You don't own Alex. He's important to us as well, you know," pressed on Anna with another comment.

"Please, don't..." tried Sebastian, but the two dragon girls were out for each other's blood once more.

Adine glared her teeth, fully turning to face Anna head-on, "You don't fucking care about him. You just use his influence and resources."

"I fucking do, and you do the same damned thing. Weren't it for him, you'd be out there freezing your ass off, just like the rest of those in that pathetic place you call the shelter," yelled Anna and grabbed Adine by the shoulders. Her claws cut into the yellow wyvern and blood appeared.

With a sharp shriek, electricity flew through the air. Both girls lost their footing and fell on the ground face down.

"Okay, that's just enough. You are both arrested until you calm down. I'll let Bryce handle you, you she-devils," stepped in Sebastian with a taser. He examined the muzzle of his gun, let it pack into a more portable form and put it back onto his belt.

* * *

"I know its not your fault, but making a mess like that will have consequences," said a deep voice.

Anna was coming back to herself. She groaned because she had a crippling headache. Her vision was blurry and she couldn't recall details of what led to the position she was in.

"Sir, with all due respect, Anna and Adine were out of control. I couldn't risk one of them getting hurt."

That had to be Sebastian. That little bastard tranquillized her.

"Look out! She's coming to herself," third feminine voice said. Anna couldn't be sure, but she'd bet she had Adine next to herself.

"Anna, I am glad you're..." said the light brown blur within Anna's vision.

Anna pointed her claw in his direction and threatened, "Sebastian, don't talk to me. We are not done."

"Don't be rude, you are not the only one with a headache," said the yellow dragon on her right. She was holding her face in the three-fingered grip of her wing claw. She looked like she could throw up any minute.

Sebastian face-palmed. He looked quite uncomfortable, "Look, I am sorry I've knocked you out, but you two would hurt one another."

"It was Anna's fault. She stormed in the damned place in the first. I was only enjoying my dinner," said Adine. It seemed like both Anna and Adine teamed up against the brown runner and another argument was on the horizon.

Anna growled, ready to strike down Adine once again. However, the bronze dragon who kept his mouth shut till that moment stepped in.

"Ladies, get a hold on yourself. What happened to you? You are like dogs," raised Bryce his voice. He wasn't used to yelling that much, as his size intimidated most of the people. With Anna and Adine, it was different, as both girls had tendencies to ignore everything during their brawls.

It seemed to work at that time though. Anna folded her once again raised talons and Adine sat back on her rump. Sebastian, who was ready to jump in between the fighting women, leaned against the wall with his back.

Bryce used the moment of silence and continued, "Sebastian told me you had some important clues discovered, Anna."

"Yes, and that's why I've been looking for Sebastian. I needed something confirmed," said Anna. She took a step forward, avoiding Adine as best as she could, which wasn't easy considering her wingspan could take a whole length of Bryce's office. Adine had her wings folded and pressed loosely against the sides, but she still presented a solid obstacle.

Bryce raised an eyebrow. Anna took a hint and kept explaining, "Sebastian saw the damage caused by our culprit first hand. I had a clue on two missing humans who had to do something with Doctor Izumi, the Ambassador if you can recall."

"I remember her. She was gravely injured during our attempt to arrest that Reza person," nodded Bryce for indicating he was following.

"I've run some searches through the register, and the only one person who had to do anything with Izumi is our Alex," said Anna, "Also, everyone else, apart from these two victims were confirmed killed in action by identification of the dead body."

"So, they are after people connected with the portal. Interesting. Any idea why?" said Bryce. He was getting quite excited about the odds of this investigation.

"Anything is possible," sounded Sebastian's voice from the corner, "From religious cult to personal issues. They could blame followers of Izumi and her team for our current situation, or something completely out of the ordinary."

"It's the 'Complete extinction versus a frozen wasteland', I think. I've read a newspaper article about it. Members of that cult were exiled," pointed out Adine, who until that moment refused to help with the investigation. "They could be the one responsible."

"Do you still have that release?" asked Bryce.

Adine stood up, "I guess. It's only a week old and I am a slow reader. It should be at the shelter if no one has stolen it."

"Go and get it," ordered her Bryce, "I'll try to raise Alex over the radio."

"What am I supposed to do?" stepped in Anna, who was tapping her foot against the floor.

"You've done enough for today. Sebastian will bring you home in case someone had a problem with you," said Bryce over the shoulder, as he started looking into boxes, hidden on shelves behind his work table. "We don't want any more accidents tonight."

"You can't just count me out! I am a viable part of this team," argued Anna.

Bryce shot her a frown and said, "My point stands. You've caused a mess and I can't risk government getting suspicious. We'll see about your involvement tomorrow."

Anna was once again red with anger. Sebastian grabbed her arm and whispered into her semi-ear, "Come on. Everything will work out."

"Is that how you hunt ladies, Seb?" tried Anna to wiggle out of his grasp, "It's not very effective."

Sebastian scratched his head, "No, but people will react with less suspicion when you'll act like restrained. So, just play along." Anna growled but stopped struggling. Someone didn't involve in the scenario would say they even looked cute next to each other.

Bryce didn't pay any more attention to any of them, so Sebastian led Anna out of the office. As it was quite late, all the corridors were empty. Natural gas laps outside the Central Office, powered by hydrogen sulphide, were burning bright.

Sebastian and Anna travelled through the night. It didn't take long to make an impression something had to be wrong.

"Hey, you two. Stop right there!" formal voice made Anna jump. Sebastian had a chill run down his spine and he increased a grip on Anna's arm, so his talons dug into it. Anna let out a soft 'ow' before slapping Sebastian over the hand.

Three government agents stood in the alley, each one in tight, black suit and tie, with short-cut hair and blocky face. They looked quite similar and it was hard to tell them apart.


	5. Chapter 5

**Author's note:**

 **Thank you all for the support so far, especially a user called Ringcaat. They've been commenting on all the updates, helping me through the development of this story.**

 **This chapter will be a bit different. I hope you won't be disappointed.**

* * *

It was three against two. Anna would take her chances. She was a dragon, she could take three monkeys head-on, but Sebastian advised against it.

"What is your business with us?" asked Sebastian, after he reassured Anna wasn't going to attack the humans.

"You are both charged for treason. There were leaks of sensitive information. Your department was found guilty," said the tallest of the agents.

"There had to be some misunderstanding. We were investigating a handed-out case by the order of your government. We are authorised to use any information we find useful," shook Sebastian his head.

Circle of agents was getting narrowed. Sebastian took a step backwards. Anna was in his way, so he bumped into her.

Anna growled, menace growing in her eyes.

"You've got right to remain silent. Given the crime, there won't be any court..." started the tallest agent.

Anna dashed forward, grabbing Sebastian's wrist. She squeezed through the wall of humans and ran into the night.

All three agents yelled at them to stop. Anna wouldn't stop, even if there was a hurricane in her way. As she was running, tracers of fired bullets zipped past her and Sebastian.

"Holy hell, they really want us on the ground," cursed Sebastian, who gave in and sprinted alongside with the red girl.

"We need to get to Bryce!" said Anna, panting and sweaty, "He's the only one who can stop this madness."

It was unusual for Anna to bet on someone's help. Considering there were literal bullets flying all over the place, no one was that bothered by it.

The guard stationed at the Central Office's door raised an eyebrow when he had seen the two dragons, out of a breath and pale in their faces. He wanted to ask something, but was interrupted by Anna who yelled at the top of her lungs, "Open the damned door!"

Both dragons slipped inside just in time. Guard, who let them in screamed as his shoulder was penetrated by a bullet. He raised himself back up, only to get hit with another two projectiles. Voices of three agents echoed through the alley. Sebastian closed the door and with Anna's help, they barricaded them with a large and heavy drawer.

Sebastian wiped his forehead of sweat, "That went well. Now what?"

Anna wheezed in an attempt to regain her ability to breathe, "Fucking humans, I hate them. What the hell was their problem?"

"Someone had to order them to do this. These agents don't think for themselves, nor pursue any investigation. They are just a workforce," said Sebastian. He grabbed his side and bent backwards. "Where is everyone from the night shift by the way? I'd expect someone to at least go take a look."

Anna sniffed the air, "You are right. It's too quiet."

"Let's try the Chief's office first. I'll grab my harpoon there and then we can investigate," suggested Sebastian.

Anna smirked in his way, "Not so hesitant to use lethal force now, eh?"

Sebastian frowned at her, "I don't like it, but if our enemy wants to play dirty, I won't give them a chance."

Empty halls were scattered with torn papers and dirt stains. It seemed like a fierce battle happened there. Bryce's office door was torn out of door frame. Sebastian went in with Anna following.

"Damn," whispered Sebastian. He found his locker, only to find it empty. "There's nothing here."

Anna joined in looking. She went under Bryce's table and pulled out a small device. Its receiver blinked with red light upon contact with her hand. "Sebastian, I've got something."

Before could Sebastian walk over to Anna, the device started speaking, "Whoever might find this, the human government is attempting to get rid off every dragon living in the city. I've been captured and taken to the Central Office's holding cells. Bryce out."

"Our next stop?" asked Anna.

Sebastian nodded, "Without Bryce, there's no equipment. Do you have anything close to a weapon in your lab?"

"I don't think so," scratched Anna her chin, "Come on, we don't need weapons. Those monkeys can't do anything to us."

"If you say so," waved Sebastian his talon. They had to move out. "Just remember what Reza did those years ago, and he was just a one-man army."

"I sliced Reza with my claws in half, excuse my lack of fear," chuckled Anna. "I have no idea what are you so afraid of. We've outrun three of those amateurs, we can do it again," she added.

"You are a wild one. Did someone say that to you, Anna?" said Sebastian in between the doorframe.

* * *

Despite their lack of weaponry, Sebastian and Anna were quite confident. It wasn't clear what caused their good mood, considering all that happened. They were in the middle of the war zone. Humans were openly trying to eradicate dragons for whatever reason and Bryce was missing. There was no trace of Adine as well.

Sebastian and Anna were going slowly through the empty hallways. The brown runner was leading them, as he knew the way. Holding cells were beneath the surface in the secured vault. Sebastian expected a heavy resistance there.

Spiral stairs, leading tens of meters underground seemed infinite. There was no light on the bottom. Sebastian turned on the torch he had from his early days at the force. The dungeon was empty and dark. Stains of fresh blood could be recognised on the floor.

"There's no excuse for killing civilians," frowned Sebastian, "Those assholes are going to pay."

"Sebastian? Is that you?" sounded a weak voice from the end of a hallway. Sebastian pointed his light at it to recognize a wyvern shape with a yellow scales dead ahead.

"Adine!" he yelled in surprise, "Spirits, that's your blood all over the floor?"

"Agent got me into the wing with a bullet," growled Adine, "I wasn't fast enough to get into cover. They took Bryce, to the garage."

Sebastian was at her in seconds, "Can you walk? We need to get you to safety."

Anna walked from the other side, "That wing looks bad, one wrong move and it will rip in half," she said after examining the wound.

"Suddenly caring for others?" threw Adine a look in the red girls' way.

"Cherish it until its gone," smirked Anna.

"Sorry about the yelling from earlier. It's like, when someone mentions Alex, I've got the need to protect his name," apologized Adine, still looking at Anna.

"Can you not deal with your differences right now?" jumped in Sebastian, who was getting more nervous each minute. "We are still missing one party member."

"You sound like Remy when he talks about that game of his," mocked Anna her companion, "I'll help Adine, you point the way."

Way back up wasn't so easy. Adine was a quite wide creature and thanks to her injured wing, she couldn't keep her balance that well. Anna ended up pushing her up while Sebastian was on the lookout at the front. It took them twice the time of the descent to reach the upper level.

Wheezing of the old metal staircase had to attract one of the agents to get a look. Sebastian peeked into the hallway, only to meet the human head-on. He swiftly punched the annoying monkey in the jaw. The human yelped in pain and crashed into the wall.

The human raised his eyes to the dragon towering above him. He then laughed, "Come on, mate, you are not going to kill me, are you? You don't have the balls."

Adine, who emerged with Anna around the corner pointed her healthy claw and said, "That's him. That one shot me in the wing." She struggled to get free, to get her revenge on the human.

"President is right. You are all just murdering machines, hunting the humans for your twisted experiments," chuckled the downed agent.

Anna pressed her teeth together, "Sebastian, could you hold her for a minute?"

Sebastian quickly exchanged places with Anna. They earned a frown from Adine's side, "Guys, I can stand on my own."

Sebastian grabbed the wyvern around the waist, "You are falling over even when I am holding you, now shucks."

Anna approached the human. The agent started to rise, only to earn a kick in the belly from the red dragon. "What does the government want? Why they have issued a full out eradication?" asked Anna and in her fury, she kicked the human again.

"Ow, I am not telling you anything," laughed the human through the blood he was spitting on the floor.

Anna grabbed him by the neck, "Look, pal, I am not a cop and I certainly don't have a problem killing you. Are you willing to die for your stupid leader?"

"I know who you are, Anne Bright. Our governor wanted to have you exiled for your past crimes, but the ambassador convinced him. You don't deserve to be here," chuckled the human and spat blood into Anna's face.

The grip on the agent's throat increased and he started to choke. Anna looked into the eyes of the dead man, a slight spark of vengeance in her own.

"Anna stop! You are not a murderer!" yelled Adine at the red dragon.

Anna looked at Adine and complained, "If I don't get rid of him, he will call for reinforcements!"

In the next moment, several things happened. Anna turned back to the human, only to meet a muzzle of a loaded gun. The agent was grinning with joy as he pressed the trigger. Anna bit into the hand holding the tool of death, causing the agent to miss. The human screamed as Anna chomped his hand off. She then attacked the agent's throat, ripping it open.

Adine had her eyes wide from shock. Sebastian was quick to recover on the other hand, "Anna! Are you okay?"

"I just killed someone. I feel fantastic," joked Anna. She wiped her mouth into the piece of cloth she tore off the dead agent's suit. "Totally not sick on the stomach." She was a bit pale from the experience. She spat on the ground and added, "Why does human blood taste so wrong?"

"Let's go before someone comes here. We still need to look for Bryce," pointed out Sebastian. He grabbed onto Adine more firmly and walked off into the hallway. Anna once again looked at the corpse and then took the gun. It might come in handy.

* * *

Bryce could feel the blood in his mouth. The human agent tried to knock him out with a gun handle but wasn't successful. Bryce's hard head wasn't so easy to crack.

"Did you line up all of them?" asked the man dressed in purple. Bryce couldn't see him from his angle that well, but he would bet his head this was the fabled President, the human governor and colony overseer. There were at least a dozen dragons that had some past with Alex or any member of the Peacekeepers.

The agent standing close to the President saluted, "Yes, sir."

"Don't lie to me, agent. I don't see at least three dragons I'd like to see," yelled the overseer at his servant, "Where's Anne Bright? She needs to get captured immediately, as she opposes a direct risk to our security."

The agent kept saluting, "Sir, a three-man unit was dispatched to deal with Anne and her companion, Sebastian. Another two agents were sent to grab the ambassador's wife, Adine."

"Then, where they are? I want them here right now!" threw the President his hands up.

Bryce caught a glimpse of red in his peripheral view. Anna walked out of the opened door, situated on the other side of the garage.

Anna looked over the iron sights of the stolen gun and prayed she wouldn't miss her target. Those lessons Remy forced her to take had to pay off.

Bullets zipped through the air and pierced the overseer's chest. It seemed like Anna could shoot quite well despite her lack of experience. The agents standing all around the man panicked drew their weapons and ran for cover. Anna jumped into cover as well and checked the gun's magazine. She had five bullets left, so every shot had to take one out.

"Anne Bright! Drop your weapon and give up. It's over!" yelled one of the agents. Anna yelled back, "Screw you, pathetic apes."

Sebastian, in disagreement with Anna's direct order to stay in cover, left his hiding spot. He ran past the storage containers and behind the line of agents. He would try and cut the ropes restraining Bryce from movement.

Agents were too busy closing on Anna to notice a big-ass earth dragon jumping at them. One human was already dead before they realised anything was going on.

"Dragon on our six," yelled one of the agents. He left the cover, only to get shot in the shoulder by Anna. He screamed in pain. Bryce was already engaged in battle with another human and Sebastian was busy holding the last agent down.

Bryce looked around himself. The blood was dripping down his muzzle. He felt this wouldn't go unnoticed. However, it was too late to stress over the inevitable.

"Status report!" shouted the bronze peacekeeper.

Sebastian, who was finished with disarming his target, raised the talon, "I am good." Anna joined in soon after. Hostages were mostly just shaken by the experience.

Sebastian walked away to get Adine, who was left behind the corner. In her current condition, she couldn't fight anyway.

Anna tied up remaining alive humans with ropes. She took their weapons, as they could come in handy in case some of the agents attempted to take the Central Office by force.

Bryce was busy keeping the former hostages in check. Among the dragons, there were Remy and Amely. The white dragon looked more disturbed than his adoptive daughter in all honesty. Amely, who was almost as tall as Anna was hugging her guardian around the neck. There was also a small pink dragoness, who used to hang out with Remy. Bryce remembered her due to a completely different story though. Vara didn't have a happy life and Remy was something close to a second dad to her. There was also the nerd duo of Lorem and Ipsum. They both looked a little pale but definitely wouldn't mind repeating the whole event. At least, Lorem wouldn't for sure.

Bryce flew over the other faces. He was surprised he didn't see Emera among the kidnapped dragons. The human governor probably didn't see her as a threat.

Sebastian helped Adine into the garage. Amely ran up to them upon spotting her former caretaker. Tender moments were exchanged. Anna walked over to the group as well and asked Adine to stretch her wing.

"It's bad, I am afraid," said the red runner, "This needs to get stitched up quickly, or you'll not fly again."

"Can you fix it with what we have?" asked Sebastian, who kept keeping the yellow wyvern stabile. Adine was running a fever, her condition getting worse each minute.

"If someone gets me a first aid kit and a disinfectant, I am happy to do field surgery," announced Anna.

Sebastian nodded and directed Adine to sit down. Remy, who walked over to them, was suitable for a backrest. The brown runner then went to find the supplies. He was back in no time so Anna could attempt to save Adine's ability to fly.

Anna cleaned her own talons, then tried to wrap them in rubber gloves. They were too small for her, but effort counted. Sebastian and Amely were holding Adine in place, while Anna worked.

"Okay, here we go," said Anna after nearly fifteen minutes. "The membrane should be fine in the next few days. Don't go flying until its fully healed or you'll rip the wound wide open," reminded the red dragon her patient.

"Thank you," whispered Adine. She was even paler than before. Blood loss had to be taking a toll on her.

Anna responded with an almost cold voice, "You've saved my life, it's time I've returned the favour." For some reason, these words left a question in the air. Was Anna sincere with her statement?

Bryce stepped onto the scene, "Sorry to interrupt, but there's still an army of angry people outside of this building. Anna, you need to leave and go look for Alex. We'll hold this place and buy you some time."

"Hold on," joined in Sebastian, "If Anna goes, so I am. We've started together, we'll finish this together."

Adine shifted as well as if she wanted to stand up. Sebastian was there to hold her down though. "No, you are staying here, Adine. No objections," he said.

"But I need to help you find Alex. He's important to me," whispered Adine, as she pressed her nose into Sebastian's side.

Sebastian looked down at the wyvern. She looked desperate, so he tried to reassure her, "You can barely walk and need time to recover. You'll fight another day, I promise," he said gently.

* * *

The supplies Anna and Sebastian could take with them weren't great in numbers. There was barely enough food for a week.

It didn't lower the morale of both dragons. They were ready to make a difference, to do things right.

Bryce departed with two other dragons to check the entrance and suppress any attempts to breach their blockade. Those humans had to learn dragons weren't the ones to mess with. On the other hand, an all-out conflict was inevitable. The human governor was dead and his sympathisers would be willing to sacrifice themselves for his death. Dragons were still superior, but humans would win by sheer numbers.

Sebastian wasn't licensed to drive anything bigger than a hovercraft, but he would be more than happy to take the wheel. Anna would just sit back and be on the lookout for anything suspicious.

Human agents cut off the power, so the steel shutter had to be pried open. Outside of the garage was a raging storm. Steel truck of our two dragons launched forward and into the frozen wasteland.

Anna felt an itch on her left forearm. Grey fabric and ceramic plating of her suit seemed to be out of place, like they weren't meant for her, or to be in this situation. Her built-in radio cracked with Sebastian's voice.

"Everything okay up there?" asked the driving brown dragon.

Anna looked around herself. Through the glass of the observatory, she couldn't see anything but a thick layer of snow. "I am blind as a mole in this weather," she said.

Sebastian chuckled, "Off to the great start. Let's keep it up."

"Just because we work together, you don't have to copy my attitude, you know," pressed Anna her teeth together and tapped on the glass. Some of the snow fell off, making a small gap to see through.

The truck pulled through the deepest snow. Anna slid down to lower parts of the vehicle and booted up the signal array. She couldn't see anything by a naked eye, so technology was her only friend. Upon getting the antenna ready, she noticed a strange pattern southwest from their position.

"I am picking up something," announced Anna, "It's southwest about three miles away. Seems like a beacon."

Sebastian shifted gear and turned the truck. They were on a slow approach toward the pinpointed target. Soon, a form of a demolished vehicle could be observed through the windshield.

"Oh no," gasped Sebastian, "Everything matches. That's Alex's vehicle."


	6. Chapter 6

Sebastian stopped their vehicle behind a snow dune. Its white and silver paint would keep it hidden.

"Did you bring any weapons?" asked Anna, who was putting the snow goggles on her head. She looked quite slender in the grey suit. Every muscle and curve were visible.

Sebastian looked at her, blushed and turned away immediately. Unfortunately, Anna noticed it.

"Hey, stop looking at my butt and answer me," barked out the red girl, "Damn it, those suits are so clingy. The one who designed them had to be a hell of pervert," she added.

Sebastian did his best to avoid the attractive girl close by. He had cleared his throat and walked over to the wall lockers. "I've packed some weaponry, yes. Nothing big, but it will do."

From the inside of the locker, Sebastian took out his harpoon rifle. Anna was supposed to have a standard police handgun, Glock 21. Arming themselves didn't come without a complaint.

"You bring me a peashooter, while you've got a calibre of an attack helicopter. That's not fair, mister!" said Anna with a sarcastic smirk.

"It's a standard issue for a peacekeeper like myself. On top of that, it's mine," responded Sebastian, unamused by Anna's comment. His poker face seemed to throw Anna off balance for a moment.

The storm was passing through the wasteland. Its intensity was as bad as before, though. Anna almost couldn't feel the wind and the only thing annoying her were the snowflakes. Snow mixed with ashes and industrial pollution was falling off the skies. Her suit was making a good job of keeping her safe from the elements.

They were slowly going towards the wreck. It was partially buried in the snow and almost invisible from the north side. Our two heroes were approaching it from the southwest.

"Stay low!" ordered Sebastian his companion.

"My belly is buried in the snow, I can't go any lower," whispered Anna a snarky response. You could hear Sebastian chuckle, but he remained focused on his task.

"Looks clear," said the brown peacekeeper, "I see no corpses and the truck is just missing its windshield."

"Strange," scratched Anna her chin, "From here it looks like their wheel got stuck and they had to leave. Can you cover me? I want to go take a look at the closer distance."

Sebastian thought about the proposal, "Sure. I'll set the rifle to a long-range and watch your back from here."

Anna jumped over the pile of snow they were hiding behind and went down the cliff. The abandoned truck was situated in the small opening, surrounded by nothing but ashen snow.

Anna's radio crackled. Sebastian was in the position and had curiosity overflowing from his voice, "How does it look down there?"

"I see nothing but a frozen wasteland. There are signs of battle, but no dead bodies," replied Anna quickly.

"Alive victims? That can't be good," said Sebastian. Scratching of snow could be heard through the radio. He was moving to a better position.

"Stay where you are. I need to verify we are alone first. Shoot on contact," gave out Anna an order. She got low and crawled forward in the manner of a predator. She drew her weapon. Blood was pumping in her veins.

The vehicle was empty inside. Anna went around all the corners to find no one in the near distance. "Sebastian?" she called out, "It's clear. You can come here."

"On my way," responded the peacekeeper. It didn't take more than a minute for him to arrive. Anna was poking in the electronics when he showed up.

"What are you doing?" asked the brown runner. Anna didn't give him any attention and just said, "Black box. It's our best shot at finding out what happened."

"Okay, I'll be on the lookout. Yell at me if you find anything," said Sebastian before climbing to the roof observatory. The conversation wasn't over though.

"Hey, Anna. Why did the governor want you dead?" asked Sebastian after a couple of minutes of dead silence. Anna groaned but replied.

"There's a bounty on my head. Several days after the arrival in this world, I might have performed some experiments on humans," said Anna as if she was telling a bedtime story. Before could Sebastian interfere, she continued, "They were all volunteers, mind you, but their families didn't believe that. They claimed those people were drugged out of their mind. The worst part of that, I did use some drugs to keep the subjects docile during the process. So, the judge found me guilty."

"How are you still alive? A crime of this calibre would count as treason," asked Sebastian from his position.

Anna chuckled for some reason, "Alex stepped in. He had pursued a full out investigation and openly presented clues the government had tried to shove under the table. Governor had to give me mercy due to presented evidence, but the bounty was never erased."

"So, once Alex was out of sight..." Sebastian scratched his head.

"The governor opened the case once more, twisted some hands and issued an order to kill me," finished Anna. "I have to give the man some credit. Keeping a grudge like that for almost two years, heh."

"What about all of those dragons he would execute along with you?" said Sebastian.

"Helping a wanted criminal is almost as bad as committing the crime yourself. Shouldn't you know that?" chuckled Anna. For some reason, she found the whole thing funny.

"And because of one foolish old man, the humanity is at war with dragons," Sebastian closed his eyes. The thought scared him.

"Not if I can help it. If we get to Alex in time, I believe our future might look quite good," said Anna through her closed teeth. She was pulling on a metal cover of the black box. With a ripping sound, she pried it open.

"There we go," wiped Anna some sweat off her forehead.

Sebastian climbed down the ladder. "One more thing," he said, "How do you know all of that? Shouldn't this information be classified?"

Anna was tinkering with the black box, trying to power it up. She kept talking, "I had an internal source at the government, the guard stationed at the Central Office. He was feeding me information from the agents while playing a double agent himself. I had an idea something was going on, but I wouldn't expect it going down so fast though."

The device lit up and a distorted image appeared. Several voices could be heard. The mercenaries were talking about women and what they would do after their payments would come. Suddenly, a loud noise sounded through the vehicle and stream of vulgar swearing could be heard. The sound of fighting followed, as two men wrestled. Through that, gunshots were fired. Anna focused on the damaged footage, "What is that?"  
Sebastian looked over her shoulder.

A figure of the raptor-like creature holding a rifle appeared. Five mercenaries didn't pay much attention to it. Alex, who was in the blind spot of the camera came out in the open. His voice was saying something. The audio was low quality, so the words got distorted.

The raptor raised the weapon and hit Alex with a handle. The man fell. Again, no fellow human tried to help him.

"What the hell are those other humans doing? Shouldn't they protect the one who hired them?" cursed Sebastian.

"Do you get why I hate humans so much?" smirked Anna.

"Is there any chance we can figure out where they've gone?" said Sebastian, just as the recording showed five humans carrying Alex out of the vehicle. The raptor-dragon followed them.

"Are you doubting me?" said Anna. Her talons danced on the console. The screen changed, displaying a terrain scan of some sort. "It's crude, but there's something. Their trail vanishes south from here."

"At least we've got a lead. Let's wrap it up here and grab our own truck," Sebastian threw his rifle on the shoulder. Anna smirked, "Agreed. I am not freezing my ass off today."

They committed their last bit of energy salvaging any remaining amount of supplies before leaving. Unfortunately, nothing was left behind. Those mercenaries had to load all the equipment into a different vehicle.

* * *

Tracking the kidnappers down would be an easy task, weren't it for the everlasting ice storm. Most of the tracks left behind the criminals would be buried within an hour and looking for them would be like looking for a needle in a haystack. Sebastian chose a tactic of going in the set direction and hoping for the best. Anna borrowed his binoculars and climbed in the watchtower. The storm calmed down to a level you could see around you. In the distance were some ruined buildings.

"These aren't the standard issue. Where did you get them?" asked Anna suddenly. She switched the binoculars to the thermal vision, as it would highlight anything out of the ordinary.

"What do you mean? My cyber spyglass?" replied Sebastian from behind the wheel, "No, they are not standard. Bryce got them for me. By his words, I couldn't use the headlamp every time I needed to see in the dark." He laughed a little. "These have all the three-star equipment - LADAR, thermal camera, IFF systems, you name it. I believe Bryce got them from the military."

Anna leaned on the metal support behind her. "For someone who lacks the energy to do a day to day tasks, humans sure have a lot of energy-based gadgets," she said.

"It's the way they are," commented the driver, "Do you see anything from up there when we are at it?"

Anna put the binoculars back to her eyes. Through the interference of the falling snowflakes, she could see the highlighted dead human settlement. There were no signs someone dwelled in there for at least a century. Still, something was off. Anna blinked. Those buildings weren't under the snow. They looked like falling apart at any moment, but there was no snow around them.

"Sebastian, steer towards the ruins on our two o'clock. There's something I need to verify," said Anna.

The truck was travelling at a steady pace towards the broken buildings. Anna's heart was pounding. If something was there, it would know about them.

Anna had the binoculars pressed against her eyeballs, searching for things out of the ordinary. "Nothing insight so far. Keep driving," she said.

Sebastian had driven around the snow dune and they entered the ruined village. Cold steam pumps used for coal mining were present on the horizon. Brick houses were all plundered, no big surprise after the years they were left abandoned. Scavenging was the only way to survive in the wasteland after all.

"I don't like this," said the brown runner, "Let's park the truck and go on foot."

"I wouldn't call it the best idea, but we are too exposed here like this," agreed Anna on the plan, "Let's go."

Sebastian found a small building. One of its walls had fallen, exposing an empty room with no ceiling. From there it looked like a living room where the family would gather up and enjoy themselves. In the present, it would serve as a comfortable garage.

The temperature didn't go under -20 Celsius to that moment. The night was settling in and the light was dying. Anna felt a bit of exhaustion in her muscles. Sebastian looked as vital as always.

"According to the records, this place used to be a coal mine. All of its riches were exhausted quite fast though, so most of it became a ghost town," said Sebastian.

"Perfect place for something sinister going on, to be honest," groaned Anna. "I bet Adine would love it here. So many dead people roam places like this."

"You can't leave the girl alone, can you? She's just more superstitious than you, accept it," chuckled Sebastian.

"I can't figure out what's interesting about ghosts anyway. All of the ghost hunting is just a goose chase by me, wasted time," pointed out Anna.

"You two are like Ying and Yang, you know," said Sebastian over the shoulder, "Completely different, but also similar. You are both stubborn, determined and confident in what you do."

"How dare you compare me to her?" growled Anna, her temper getting out of hand.

Sebastian cut her off, "Let's change the topic, or keep quiet. I don't want to argue."

So, they kept quiet.

Walking through the abandoned settlement would take a toll on one's sanity. Here and there was an occasional corpse of a scavenger, stripped of flesh and clothes. Only the bones remained. Wasteland takes all, even humans, who once bragged about conquering it.

"I bet at midnight those bones come to life," said Anna is a low tone, smirking.

Sebastian gasped and then frowned at grinning Anna, "Don't do that. You are scaring the life out of me." He was starlet by Anna suddenly speaking.

"What's the matter? Is our little boy scared of darkness?" grinned Anna even further.

"No, I just don't like when I can't see where am I going. And weird noises, that one too," answered Sebastian truthfully.

The darkness had fallen on the remnant of past society. Sebastian and Anna were just a few feet apart and they both felt like they were alone. Anna realised she didn't sleep properly in the last two days and wondered why she wasn't tired.

Suddenly, crunching snow could be heard in front of them. Sebastian grabbed Anna and threw her behind the nearest remains of some brick wall. He gestured with a talon so Anna would return his binoculars.

The thermal scan revealed dragon-like features. There were also two humans accompanying the newcomer. Sebastian hoped those people didn't have the same equipment as he had. He and Anna would be in trouble in that case.

A feminine voice sounded through the ruins. It was muffled by a face mask, but still quite easy to understand. "We know you are out there. Show yourself!"

Sebastian increased the grip on his weapon. They weren't getting him alive.

"We've got your precious ambassador. Convince him to cooperate and we'll let you all go," continued the female.

Anna growled and mumbled something under her breath. Sebastian's frown grew deeper.

A raptor-like head appeared around the corner. Serpent yellow and green eyes inspected every inch of Sebastian and Anna. The raptor female held a flashlight in her claw and shone a cone of light upon the two heroes.

"Gotcha!" she exclaimed.

Sebastian aimed and fired the harpoon. The raptor girl swept the weapon to the side and hit Sebastian over the temple with her flashlight. He gasped and lost consciousness. Anna attacked the female with a screech. She would claw on those serpent eyes for the life of hers. Anna got ready to spit out flames at her target, completely forgetting she had a gun at her disposal. The attacker grabbed Anna by a chin and pressed down her neck, so any flammable gas remained stuck in Anna's throat. The red runner coughed violently, as natural gas blew out of her nostrils.

"Save your strength, tomato. Your time will come later," said the raptor.

The raptor lifted Anna like nothing. Her three-fingered talon was digging into Anna's nuzzle. Anna struggled, but her enemy started to repeatedly ram the head of Anna's against the wall. With each hit, Anna grew weaker and eventually, she lost consciousness.

* * *

Sebastian felt the blood in his mouth upon waking up. His body was stiff as a piece of rock. He grabbed onto something cold and familiar - his harpoon rifle. The criminals had to forget about it. He used all of his senses to get his bearings.

He found himself buried waist down in the snow and building debris. He shivered as multiple warning from the speakers of his helmet attacked his brain. His HUD was cracked on the side, probably from the moment, that villain knocked him cold. Sebastian groaned and tried to stand up. He was shivering all over and even the heating of his protective suit didn't help much. He should be dead. No one survived such a long time outside.

"Anna! Where are you?" he screamed at the top of his hurting lungs and coughed. "I hope she's okay," he said to himself.

His radio turned on out of sudden, "Big Bad to Angels, come in." The voice was disturbed at best. Sebastian grabbed on to the receiver as fast as his stiff talons allowed him, "Angels two-one, here," he said.

"Glad to hear you're okay. I've been trying to raise you over the past couple of hours," replied the voice of Bryce. Sebastian was so glad to hear his boss' voice at that moment.

"We were outnumbered," continued Bryce, "The enemy had the upper hand and we were forced to evacuate. I've got no news on the rest of officers, nor remaining civilians. We are on the way to your beacon."

Pain struck Sebastian deep down in his chest. He managed to reply, "Roger that. I'll return to my vehicle and wait for you."

How many dragons would pay for Anna's act of killing the human governor? The odds were grim and not looking good for dragons. But, what he could do? Everything happened so quickly. The attack, their escape... That human leader was responsible. In fact, his plan was brilliant. If the dragons killed him war would happen. If he was captured, humans would rise and slaughter every dragon anyway. There was no clear path.

Two vehicles appeared on the horizon. One small, that looked like a buggy and one transport truck. Sebastian recognized the small blue dragon driving the support vehicle. It was Lorem. He had a strange obsession with humans back then and wanted to bring Alex for an interview. Behind Lorem, there was a pink dragon girl. She wore pilot googles and had a wide grin on her face. Sebastian could also see the partner of Lorem in the windshield of the truck. Ipsum had focused expression on his face and didn't look comfortable at all. Heads of Bryce and Amely were also visible.

Sebastian waved his arm at the incoming vehicles. Lorem steered towards him and stopped the buggy just inches apart from the officer. Ipsum stopped the truck nearby as well.

"Sebastian, man. It's good to see you in one piece," chirped Lorem and both him and Vara gave the officer a toothy grin.

"You kids are really enjoying yourself, aren't you?" said Sebastian and shook his head.

"This is awesome. I didn't have so much fun in years," said Lorem, "Even though I'd rather miss out the killing next time."

"You and me both, kiddo," agreed Sebastian.

"Sebastian!" voice of Bryce emerging from the truck flew over the trio. "Where's Anna?"

Sebastian saluted, "Taken, boss. Our culprit took her who-knows-where. I was knocked unconscious until then."

Bryce frowned. He looked much older than he was. "That's unfortunate. Now, we have to save her as well. Add that to the list of getting Alex back and negotiating the place among humans once again."

"I am sorry, boss. I couldn't do anything," said Sebastian, letting the saluting talon fall to his side. He felt like a piece of wet tissue paper at that moment.

Bryce gave the small officer a reassuring smile, "I know you have tried your hardest. Let's focus on getting them back, okay."

* * *

"You are an idiot! You've given me bad information. That's not his wife!"

The raptor female was enraged. Anna would grin if the situation allowed it. Raptor's human coworker was dodging the sweeps of talons.

"I am sorry, ma'am. The source we had only spoke of Anne Bright. So, we assumed..." human defended himself. He jumped again to avoid being cut in half.

"Your assumptions, Jack, will get us nowhere. I want Alex's wife, not some smartass impostor," growled the raptor-like dragoness.

Anna erupted in chuckles. The raptor turned to her and frowned deeply, "What's so funny?"

Anna laughed openly, "You guys are amateurs! You've killed so many humans to get the Peacekeepers of your trail, just to be crippled by your own stupidity."

The human mercenary apologised once more, "I am sorry, ma'am. Can I go now?"

The raptor snapped at the human, "Go freeze to death for all I care!"

Anna, restrained by the ropes, kept laughing as if the experience was something to laugh about. She then looked sideways at the raptor, "Seriously though, what is your plan?" she said.

"Why should I tell you?" snapped the strange dragon at Anna.

"Hey, I am sorry humans did this to you. You are a proto-dragon. You should have stayed behind like the rest of your kind," smirked Anna. She had a feeling the raptor would rip her throat apart any second for the insult. It didn't happen.

"I want to go back, to my own world. I don't belong here," said the raptor, her tone completely changing.

"Well, princess, that's not possible," explained Anna, "The portal is sealed and opening it would drain all the energy from the grid."

The raptor girl showed off her teeth once again, "I don't care how many humans will die. I am going through the portal and you are not going to convince me otherwise."

"Ah, I get it. You need Alex to give you the coordinates," continued Anna, "And to lift the seals he had placed upon the mechanism. He'll never do that, I assure you."

A malicious grin formed on raptor's face, "That's why I have you here, sweetheart. With you, your precious human will do anything I want," said the raptor. She grabbed Anna by the ropes and lifted her up, "And since we'll be spending a lot of time together, name's Rexa," added the raptor girl.


	7. Chapter 7

"How are you holding up?" asked Sebastian. He was kneeling down next to lying Adine. The yellow wyvern was steady and calm, shock from earlier gone completely.

"I am better now. My wing doesn't hurt anymore. Anna has done a great job," smiled the small wyvern. She was pushing herself towards Sebastian to minimise the vibrations of the vehicle they were in. She also found her friend's body heat comforting.

Sebastian noticed her behaviour and had to comment, "Careful, or others might start thinking you are cheating on Alex."

"I don't care. You are so soft and it feels good," mumbled Adine through her closed teeth. She had both eyes closed and it seemed like she was going to use Sebastian for a bed.

Their convoy was driving through the abandoned mining settlement. There were no signs of Anna or the strange dragon that kidnapped her either. Sebastian could hear Bryce talking over the radio with Lorem. The small blue dragon played the role of their scout, as the buggy allowed him to quickly disappear if things were to go wrong.

Sebastian pushed Adine of himself and raised to his feet. Adine showed her displeasure by a low growl and tail sweep but didn't do anything to get her cushion back.

The light brown officer walked over to his bronze boss. Bryce was looking through the window at the ruined buildings. Sebastian didn't have a chance to greet the chief, because Bryce raised a question upon spotting him.

"Do you think Anna's okay?"

Sebastian was surprised his boss would care about that, "Of course. Anna is unbreakable by anything."

"Really though?" Bryce didn't look reassured in any way, "The criminal behind this has never taken a dragon hostage before. Why now?"

Sebastian put his thinking expression on, "Well, they have Alex now, so looking at it logically, they need a resource to get Alex to talk. I doubt our human would just give them what they want unless it's something stupid."

Bryce nodded, "Makes sense, didn't think of that," he sighed deeply, "I am getting old."

"Oh, come on, boss. You are in the best condition," Sebastian patted the larger dragon's back. "You've got a long career ahead of you."

Bryce got nostalgic out of sudden, "I remember it like yesterday. You've shown up in my office, straight out of the academy. And I've thought, this guy won't last a week. Yet, here we are."

"Well, thank you for giving me the chance, boss. I sure hope this year won't be our last," grinned Sebastian from ear to ear.

"Sapphire to Big Bad, come in," sounded Lorem's voice through the intercom. Bryce was quick to jump at the receiver. "Big Bad on the phone, what's your status?"

"Two minutes north from you is a giant mine entrance. It looks like it's been opened recently," said Lorem over the radio, "There are no hostiles nearby, so I'll just go in standby until you arrive."

"Nice job, son. We'll reach you soon. Big Bad over," smiled Bryce and lifted his talon off the receiver. The device went silent immediately. Bryce gave an order to move the transport to the given position.

Sebastian slid back next to Adine, who immediately found his belly. He was either that comfortable to lie on, or Adine was satisfying her need for physical contact. Sebastian decided against stroking her neck. He was going to be standing up any minute anyway, so getting the wyvern too relaxed could potentially be a bad idea.

"We've got a visual. Get ready," announced Bryce. Sebastian got up from his imaginative seat on the ground. Adine groaned once more, raised herself to her feet to accompany her friend. She looked determined to help with the cause.

"You are not seriously going with us, are you?" complained Sebastian. Adine frowned in his direction and nodded.

"Boss, tell her something! She wants to go with us," pleaded Sebastian in response.

"I'm not her mother, I can't tell her what to do. If she wants to go with us, let her," said Bryce, as if he wasn't listening to the conversation.

Sebastian wasn't letting up though, "But chief, she's been gravely injured, she can't just go out there and fight along with us. She could get killed and Alex wouldn't forgive us for that."

"Well, in that case, go along and look after her. We are going to need a scout in a field anyway. She could use her good eyes to help us out," pointed out Bryce.

Sebastian looked like he would smash something in a minute. He had both of his hands in fists, boiling over. "Are you seriously teaming up against me?" he yelled.

Surprisingly, Bryce laughed, as if it was the best joke he heard in years. "Anna truly has a bad influence on you. I like this side of you more, to be honest."

Adine gave Sebastian a toothy grin. The smaller brown dragon was steaming, but he had to accept his fate.

* * *

Anna was placed in a dark room, restrained by a rope. She was wondering what would they do to her. She had an idea some persuasion would be needed because she had said she wouldn't give out the information without a fight.

To her complete surprise, a door opened in her line of sight. There was the one human she was looking for. Alex was standing in a hallway, unharmed and without any restrictions. It seemed like he was there willingly like he wasn't kidnapped at all.

"Alex!" she cried out. "What the hell were you thinking?"

The human was just standing in the light. His eyes behind the shaded glasses weren't visible, so it was hard to judge what was going on in Alex's head. He spoke up, but the voice he produced was uninterested and cold, "Anna, I am glad it's you. Adine would just get in the way."

Shocking indeed. Anna could wonder how many drugs Alex had to take to become this zombie-like. She screamed once again, "Snap the fuck out of it, dumbass. Don't you see what is going on around you." There was no response, so Anna continued, "Humans have driven us out of the city, Adine got injured and there's a cult, which wants to open the Portal."

"I see the point in opening the Portal. I want to help," said Alex in a dreamy voice. Before could Anna spat out another curse, he added, "I need someone on the other side to close it when I am through."

Anna tried to get up. The chair she was tied to dangerously tilted to one side, but the restraints didn't budge. She cursed like an old sea dog. Laughter echoed through the room.

"Great isn't it," said Rexa, coming from behind Alex, "It's my creation. With this drug, I can control the mind of whoever I want."

"Then why the hell you aren't outta here already? Open the Portal and go!" hissed Anna and pulled once again on her restraints.

Rexa looked at the red girl sideways, "Well, sadly it's not so easy. The drug renders its user a mindless husk and I need Alex's intellect to guide us. I've done this just to show you what I can do."

"You expect me to admire you? Go eff yourself..." snorted Anna with a mixture of amusement and disgust. She rattled with the chair in an attempt to break free of her restrains. It tilted backwards and fell. Anna cursed and remained motionless like a broken ragdoll.

"You'll come around and see the beauty in my work," whispered Rexa, grabbed Alex by the waist and led him away.

"You won't get to win, I assure you! There will be someone who will come and levels this place with a ground!" yelled Anna of her floor bedding.

The door closed, leaving Anna in the dark. Her side hurt and she had an itch somewhere down her tail. She spat on the floor and said, "Damn it, I am starting to sound like a cheap superhero."

* * *

"Whoa, these are some doors," said Amely, who was sitting in a passenger seat next to Ipsum. He chuckled under his breath and responded, "Humans are fascinating creatures. They built much bigger things than that, Amely."

The truck stopped at the edge of the broken fence. Lorem had to squeeze his buggy through a tight spot to get where he was. The mentioned hole, however, was too small for a transporter to go through.

"Okay, end of the line, ladies and gentlemen. It's time to head out," said Bryce.

Sebastian pulled on a handle of the sliding doors. Strong wind crashed into the interior of the truck. Sebastian scanned the outside and jumped out with his rifle out. Adine followed. She would try to aid the mission, even if it would kill her. Bryce stayed behind to look after the truck, and by his words, he was too old to get involved in the firefight. Amely, Ipsum and Remy remained with Bryce as well. Remy made a promise to Adine to look after Amely. Ipsum was the driver.

Lorem was waving at the duo of Sebastian and Adine from a distance. Storm settled for a while, so the visibility wasn't bad. Sebastian didn't feel tired, even though he was awake the whole night. Sun was rising on the horizon and the temperature was going up a bit.

Sebastian arrived at the buggy first. Lorem and Vara were both smiling as if the situation didn't get to them. "Hey, Seb," started Lorem, "Have you seen a machine bigger than that?" The blue dragon was pointing at the shadow in a distance. Sebastian focused on a point Lorem was pointing at. The fog dispersed for a bit and revealed a mining drill. Quite a monster it was, indeed, having a hundred meters in length probably.

"Well, I wouldn't want that thing in my back yard, to be honest," said Sebastian.

"That machine could solve the coal shortage we've been having. Or we could dig for precious minerals to make more generators. Life could become bearable once again," said Lorem and Vara nodded in agreement. Sebastian smiled and gave the blue dragon a pat on a back, "Good thinking, kid."

"I am older than you," objected Lorem, but other than that, he didn't say anything.

"So, the mine. Have you figured out how to get in?" asked Sebastian, putting the harpoon rifle on his back and walking towards the round metallic barrier.

"Negative, but Vara is an expert on mechanical engineering so she could help with this one," said Lorem. He followed Sebastian with Vara close on his tail and Adine as last of them.

"Right," tapped Sebastian his chin. Vara spoke up, taking the clue to share her ideas. She took the lead. They were looking for either a switch or console. Sebastian remained down at the entrance, while Vara went to scout the surrounding buildings.

"I've got something," she shouted from somewhere, "Stay clear."

Apparently, there was a master lock console still operational. Vara found it in the abandoned building that had to act as some sort of checkpoint in the past. The massive round hatch hissed as the pneumatic systems moved rusted joints. Lorem was jumping from feet to feet, "Heureka, she did it."

Sebastian looked down at Lorem, who started to blush. "I am not saying anything, carry on," said the Peacekeeper.

"I am not teasing you about liking Adine. Quit it!" yelled Lorem.

"I wasn't teasing and who I like is none of your business," pointed out Sebastian.

"Guys, could you leave me out of this!" complained Adine, starting to blush as well.

"Or is it Anna? Is that why you are acting so tough? To impress the most badass girl around?" wasn't giving up Lorem.

Before could Sebastian fire back a painful comment, Vara shouted, "What are you waiting for? The bad guys won't wait for us all day."  
She had climbed down from the elevated checkpoint and glided towards the opened mine entrance.

Lorem snorted at Sebastian and ran after Vara. Sebastian shrugged and asked Adine casually, _"Shall we?"_ Like if the conversation didn't even happen.

She nodded, "Certainly."

They trailed behind the blue and pink duo. Lorem and Vara almost looked happy, even though Lorem was much older than the pink dragoness. Adine smiled at the sight. At least love didn't cease to exist, even though the world was pretty much spiralling down to its inevitable end. Where was her significant other? Was he thinking about her?

* * *

Alex felt light-headed. He was lying on a soft surface, face pointing towards the ceiling. There was a scaly face with prehistoric sharp features looking down at him.

"There, you are awake," said the female raptor above him, "Do you have a headache?"

Alex groaned and complained, "I feel like death. Just because I've agreed on your twisted experiment doesn't mean you have to kill me."

The raptor girl smiled, which looked more creepy than cute, "I am simply acting nice. We don't have to be enemies if you give me what I want," she said.

"For the last time, Rexa, the Portal cannot be opened. It would cause a power collapse. That means the death of everyone in the twenty-mile radius. I am not sacrificing my people over a personal gain," objected Alex, grabbing his forehead. The guard stationed at the door coughed and suggested, "Shall I put him in shackles?"

"No need," shook Rexa her head and continued in a sweet voice, "Our human will cooperate. Just give it time."

* * *

Anna couldn't move. The concrete floor smelled awful like someone took a piss there. She used her remaining strength to move herself a few feet backwards. The restraints didn't budge and the metal chair she was strapped onto didn't help either.

Suddenly, the whole underground shook in its roots, like some bomb just went off. There was no explosion, just sounds of one large object wheezing and moving reluctantly.

Then there was silence. For another ten minutes, nothing moved in the near vicinity of Anna. Then she heard gunshots. Short bursts of a standard-issue military rifle. Local residents had to find something to worth shooting at. Screams of an injured man echoed through the hallways. Haste steps ran past the room Anna was in. Someone was yelling orders.

Anna wiggled some more and moved her stiff body towards the wall behind her. There were two voices behind the doors of her cell. Quick fingers were working on the lock. Someone was trying to get in. Once the door swung open, there were two dragon figures.

"There she is."

Pink dragon approached Anna. "Lorem! That idiot wasn't lying," she said.

The red girl couldn't quite recognise the pink dragoness, but she was familiar with the name Lorem. "How did you find me?" she asked.

"One of the guards told us. We've spared his life for it," explained the pink dragoness. A bit taller blue dragon came from behind her. It was Lorem, no doubt. Anna didn't see the human-obsessed dragon for a long time. In cloth cap along with pilot's goggles, he looked like a taxi driver from the beginning of 20th century. He also had a leather jacket. The pink girl by his side wore a pair of pilot goggles as well. Anna could swear she had seen them on someone's head before.

"Not the best decision, Vara. That could have consequences," said Lorem. He had a Magnum revolver in his left talon, covering the exit.

Vara, so that was the name. Anna's head searched for a clue from where she knew the pink dragoness. Remy could be the best bet, as he was familiar with a lot of dragons and liked to talk about them. Anna mostly ignored his 'thinking aloud' sessions.

Vara found a spot big enough for her and started working on Anna's ropes. She was a quadrupedal dragon and lacked proper hands to do any complex untying. Anna felt how the claws cut one string after another and hoped Vara could see where her talons were going.

The metal chair slid down Anna's behind the moment Vara had cut the last rope. Both Lorem and Vara helped the red runner back on her feet. Anna was a bit lightheaded, her wrists and back hurt. She couldn't just lay back down though. She felt an obligation towards those who had saved her. So, she had said something quite unusual for her.

"Thank you."

* * *

Sebastian, hidden behind a pillar, slid another needle magazine into his rifle. Adine was hiding not so far away from him, just around the corner.

"From where the hell they keep coming?" yelled Sebastian, who just took aim and shot one human in the shoulder. The injured biped screamed, fired his attack rifle in all directions and fell down. His remaining colleagues cursed loudly on the name Sebastian. Bullets were bouncing from the edges of the peacekeeper's cover.

Barks of a Magnum revolver and a Five-Seven ringed through the other side of the corridor. Two mercenaries, that were keeping Sebastian and Adine in check, froze in place. They had smoking bullet holes in their heads. Sebastian focused on the end of the hallway to get the sight of Anna and Lorem, standing side by side and holding their weapons up. Vara was hiding behind them.

"Cavalry has arrived!" announced Anna, handing Lorem the gun, "Thanks for the weapon,"

Lorem hid his talons behind the back, "No, keep it for now. Walking around unarmed is a bad idea."

Anna shrugged and put the weapon in a holster on the belt around her waist, "If you say so."

Sebastian with Adine walked over to them. The wyvern gave Vara a hug, while Sebastian shared a brofist with Lorem. Anna grabbed onto Sebastian's shoulder, but stopped herself in the middle of the move and didn't finish the intent. Sebastian had smirked at that and gave her back a friendly tap.

"So, where to next, boss?" asked Lorem. He was talking to Sebastian and it looked like the peacekeeper wasn't quite comfortable with being called 'Boss'.

"I don't know, actually. Anna, you've been here longer than us. Can you provide any intel?" turned Sebastian the attention towards the red dragoness. Anna frowned, as she didn't like being the centre of attention.

"I'd be glad to help, but those f...," Anna stopped for a moment to look at Adine, who was giving her a murderous look, "Those guys put a darn bag on my head."

"Well, no problem for us, I guess. We can scout this place in no time," said Lorem.

"I just hope Alex is alright," expressed Adine her worry.

"Don't worry about him, Rexa treats him like a precious boy, thinking he will come around if she acts nice," clarified Anna with a smirk. She earned an angry look of Adine.

"Who's Rexa? Well, doesn't matter, I am gonna kill her anyway..." stomped Adine angrily, ready to take off. Sebastian grabbed her shoulder and shook his head. "Hold your horses, girl. You can't just charge in there, not in your condition."

"You've made it sound like I am pregnant, police boy," lowered Adine her voice so only Sebastian could hear her. He snorted in slight amusement.

"Speaking of which," Anna ignored the brown runner's grin and grabbed Adine's wing to examine it gently, "How are the stitches holding up?"

Adine spread the wing to a third-quarter of its length, "It's an excellent job. You could work as a doctor for sure," said the wyvern and gave Anna a brief smile.

"Heh, thanks but no thanks. No one wants a doctor with a bounty on her head," snickered Anna under her breath.

Sebastian, who was looking through a scope on his weapon to that moment, raised from a crouch. "I don't detect any movement further. Let's go before more hostiles show up."

The group moved out.

* * *

Rexa was pacing around the makeshift kitchen of hers. The long white lab coat she was wearing flew behind her like a ghost. "Damn it, damn it, damn it..." she kept repeating over and over.

"You seriously didn't expect someone would attempt a rescue?" asked Alex. He was sitting on a mattress and leaning against a wall.

"Shut up, I didn't do anything to you!" snapped Rexa. "I've been treating you like a guest and what have I got? Half of my men are dead and the Peacekeepers are on their way."

"You should have considered the morals of your actions before acting, raptor. Now, you are finished," pressed on Alex.

Rexa didn't think it was the end of the line though. She had grabbed Alex by a shoulder and lifted him up. She grinned in his face and said, "I've come too far to give up now. Follow me, ape!"

The raptor girl dragged Alex in a secret behind-a-wall closet, which turned out to be a lift. Alex could feel the liftoff, as the elevator chamber travelled towards the surface. Rexa was pressing him towards herself like he was a treasure of some sort. She wasn't your typical villain. She was crazy indeed but also didn't lose it completely. She just wanted to return to the world other dragons were so glad to run from.

The elevator arrived at its destination. Rexa pushed Alex out in the opening. They were outside, on some sort of airport. There was a singular vehicle there - an Osprey helicopter. It was snowed in, but looked quite new, compared to its surroundings. Rexa walked with Alex towards the machine and kept talking.

"One of my men has found this down in the mines. Someone had to hide it and forgot to take it with them. It has a full tank and should carry us to the Portal in no time."

Alex lagged behind and crossed his arms, "Do you really think I'll just get in and cooperate?"

Rexa cracked her knuckles, "Yes!"  
With a sweep, she hit Alex's temple and the human lost the ability to resist. Rexa grabbed the unconscious creature and put him inside of the gunship.

"Nice times are over. It's time to get serious," she said, as she got in the machine as well.

* * *

The division of mercenaries dispersed out of sudden. Sebastian or anyone else didn't wonder why. They were glad they didn't have to fight for every inch of the ground. The mine wasn't quite so complex. There were rooms filled with supplies and bedding for at least a battalion of soldiers. This place had to be a fortress of some sort, that was the only explanation.

They walked the main corridor, going deeper and deeper. Hanging light bulbs were getting more and more sparse. Darkness was taking over.

Lorem was leaning on Vara's shoulder. Sebastian walked at the front with his rifle in a shooting position. Anna covered the back and Adine walked somewhere in the middle. She was on the lookout for an ambush because she had the best eyes of them all.

There was no one. The silence was the only medium filling the place. The soldiers of Rexa had to either flee, or Sebastian's crew took out all of them. Sebastian himself hoped for the latter option.

"Boss, I think we've got all of them. Let's split up and get to looking for Alexander," suggested Lorem.

"Negative, we still got the raptor loose. She's a dangerous person and I don't want to risk lives," brushed Sebastian the idea of the table.

"Lorem has a point though," said Adine, "If we split up, we could cover more ground."

"Do you want to put these civilians in danger?" snapped Sebastian, "Because I don't and I am the highest-ranked officer here."

"Hey, cool down. Don't take out your frustration on me!" Adine tried to grab onto Sebastian's shoulder, but he brushed her claw away. That was the moment Anna stepped in.

She grabbed Sebastian by his shoulders and crashed with him against the wall. "Get a hold of yourself, man," said Anna in an angry tone. "I am not the one to defend others, but you are taking it too far."

Sebastian was sweating, while the crushing force of Anna's claws was making scratch marks on his armour. Adine tried to pull them apart but wasn't successful.

"What do you want?" continued Anna, "Do you think I'll like you more if you'll be acting all tough and heartless?" Sebastian tried to talk, but Anna didn't let him. She had more to say, "I've seen how you look at me. There's more to the sudden change. You've got a soft spot for me, haven't you?"

"Is this really a good time to discuss this? We need to work together!" yelled Adine, pulling onto Anna's arm.

"Well, I've got a message for you. I am taken and I wouldn't give up Remy for you, that's for sure. He's a dork, but we've got a child to raise. And that's the best thing that happened to me in my life, even though I wouldn't admit it," finished Anna. She let go of Sebastian, allowing the brown runner to breathe again.

Sebastian collapsed on the floor, shaking all over. Adine kneeled next to him. If looks could kill, Anna would be dead by that moment. The sharp stare Adine had given Anna would make a hole through the red scientist.

"Are you okay, Seb? There, it's all good," Adine stroked the cheek of the runner, as she was trying to comfort him somehow. Anna looked away and crossed her arms. Lorem was staring as well. Vara had her nose hidden in the blue dragon's jacket.

"I am leaving," announced Anna slowly, "I believe no one wants to see me at the moment anyway." She was ignored by the majority. Nobody was there to stop her.

* * *

Alex slowly came to himself. His head hurt from the blunt attack Rexa had gifted him with.

They were flying above the wasteland. Rexa was behind the controls, focused on what was going on in the front of her. Alex could easily execute an act of revenge upon her. However, he decided otherwise. He couldn't fly a machine like that and Rexa could do something unexpected, if he'd attack her.

Still, Rexa was just one crazy raptor. She deserved a treatment, not being buried six feet under. If there was a way to save her, she could become a valuable asset in the science team.

"Everything okay back there?" yelled Rexa to be heard over the sound of the roaring engine. Alex reluctantly nodded.

"I had to do it. I am sorry. You wouldn't come any other way," kept shouting Rexa, "I've got a one-shot opportunity and you are not stopping me."

Alex walked over to the raptor girl and said normally, "You don't have to do this. I can help you." He could speak at a normal volume because he had his mouth right next to Rexa's head.

"Sorry, I know you can do wonders, but the other dragons wouldn't accept me. I am a monster," said Rexa. "Especially that red devil."

"You mean Anna? She's like that to everyone," objected Alex. He was running out of time. The dark silhouette of the Portal raised from the snow dunes.

Fortunately, an unexpected ally came to save the day. Puffs of black smoke appeared around the vehicle. Anti-air defences, the colony had to install them to prevent anyone from reaching the Portal the way Rexa had intended. Flak grenades were exploding around the machine. Rexa cursed loudly and steered the helicopter to the left. Alex fell face down behind her seat.

One of the shells punched a hole in the hull and the rusty chassis of the Osprey started to fall apart. They crashed after several seconds of Rexa cursing and fighting the controls. Fortunately, they didn't have that much velocity, so the crash itself wasn't that bad.

Rexa was quickly back on her feet. She was bleeding from various cuts on her body, but that seemed to give her even more energy. She had grabbed groaning Alex from the floor, loaded him onto her shoulder and like a bag of potatoes, she carried him out of the wreck. Alex couldn't quite grasp what was going on around him. He knew he was alive because every single muscle in his body screamed for attention. The raptor carrying him wasn't gentle. Rexa was limping and leaving a small blood trail behind her in the fallen snow.

The Portal was near, but given the earlier resistance, there had to be a crew of state soldiers, armed to the teeth. Rexa couldn't take on a platoon of men. The situation would solve itself if they were lucky.


	8. Chapter 8

**_*Circa an hour before*_**

Anna felt a strange numbness inside of her chest. Why did she do that to Sebastian? His affection towards her wasn't anything bad, and even though she couldn't return the feeling, she could at least offer him something to look forward to. She could be his companion, let him think she cared.

The situation of theirs did that to her. Her social skills were bad before and the stress only induced it. She was snapping at her friends, acting like a jerk, even though they came to rescue her without the need to do so. Alex was the one that needed saving. He was the ambassador, one very important person that would negotiate the future of dragons and humans. Anna was just another person lurking in the darkness, surviving day by day. Her work might be important, but no one would recognize her for it. Humans would always steal the honours.

With Anna killing the governor, she would at least get recognized for something, even though it would earn her an electric chair at best. She wasn't returning back to the colony. She wouldn't see Amely and Remy again. That was the best solution for everyone, as she wouldn't endanger the future of her species.

Stomping the ground, she was running through the hallways. She was determined to get to Alex first before that bitch Rexa could take him away and act on her twisted will. This whole situation was weird, as Alex seemed to not resist his captors. Knowing the human, he probably thought he could redeem Rexa somehow, as the raptor wasn't in control of her emotions and actions. Anna didn't care though. Whoever was willing to kill to achieve their dreams had to suffer a painful death to pay for the blood they had spilt.

That last thought felt ironic because Anna wasn't far away from killing when she was holding onto her life. Cancer changed that, and so did Alex. He deserved to get a chance to live with the one he loved the most.

As fast as the wind in the wasteland, Anna arrived at the end of the tunnel. She had a vague memory of herself being dragged through there to some sort of kitchen-like organised room. As this was the only clue she had, it became a fact. Alex was in there, period. The limited brainpower Anna had at that moment approved. She also had a feeling she was missing the key component in the story. All the way through the mine, no one assumed Rexa could sound a silent alarm and get out of there. Anna had to do something, act on her behalf and intuition. There were locked doors in her way, though.

Without a second thought, Anna slammed her leg into the wooden barrier. A powerful kick like that would send a well-built man flying, so the old door frame had to fall with no doubt.

The Five-Seven pistol in hand, she burst into the room. It was empty and only a kettle, screaming on the nearby stove, suggested someone had to be there just a minute ago. Anna groaned in frustration and her eyes travelled through every corner of the room.

"You've got to be kidding me," yelled Anna upon spotting the open elevator shaft, hidden in the wall-mounted closet. "A secret exit? What is this place? A fucking fairy tale?" She cursed and ran over to it. Rexa had to use it not long ago. Anna spastically pressed onto the call button. She was cursing in all the words she could put together on the name of the slow machine, Rexa and everything else that came up. The elevator arrived at the bottom in less than thirty seconds. For Anna, it was like a lifetime.

Anna was on the way up and hoped Rexa would be there. She was so eager to put a bullet through that raptor's head. And if Alex was in the way, she would shoot him in the leg and then kill Rexa. If the gun got jammed, she would kill the raptor with her claws and fire.

Anna snapped out of her murderous mindset. What was she thinking about? She was allowed to kill only one reptile, period. Her situation was bad enough and she didn't have that much room for error either.

The elevator stopped at the very top of the shaft. It shook in its roots when Anna had pulled the handle on sliding doors.

The red runner slipped outside. Her eyes used to the darkness of the mine down below burned like eternal hell. Anna cowered her vision, blinked to get back in control. The roaring sound of an aircraft could be heard above her. She fought the burning eyes and blurry sight. To her dismay, she discovered it was too late.

"Goddammit!" she yelled at the top of her lungs. "Where the hell did she get a helicopter? Fuuuuuu...!" The groan of frustration shook with the air and an echo formed. However, Anna didn't think she had made enough noise. Gun in her talon, she pulled the trigger in the way quickly fading aircraft. Six gunshots escaped the pistol, but none hit the target. Anna kept pressing on the trigger of her, now empty, Five-Seven. Then all the anger went back where it came from. The red girl lowered the weapon, reloaded it with a fresh magazine and put it in the holster.

It was over. There was no way they were getting to the Portal first.

"Anna? Is that you?" sudden voice appeared, going from somewhere below Anna. "I've heard gunshots, are you okay up there?"

Lorem, who else would be ignorant enough to follow the red scientist. Anna couldn't be picky at that moment. An idea came to her and she was willing to do anything to make it a reality.

"Lorem! Can you drive really fast?" Anna leaned over the edge of the elevated platform she was standing on. Lorem looked like a small blot of ink on the perfect mixture of white and grey.

"Yes, but Adine wouldn't agree with me helping you. She's got an issue with you to work out," yelled Lorem.

Anna looked around herself for a way to get down faster than by that rusty elevator. She would also have to get through Adine and that bonehead would certainly try to give her life advice.  
Anna's eyes spotted a long steel wire, welded into the structure of the building. Her brain yelled at her to stop, as she jumped forward. Like a feather, she used the wire the slowly get down, climbing and leaping over the obstacles until both of her feet rested on the ground.

Lorem, panicked, was rubbing his talons together, "Anna, don't do that ever again. You don't have to risk your life like that."

Anna grinned at him, "Have a little faith, will you? Besides, the shortest way is usually the most dangerous anyway."

"Where are we going? Do you have any leads?" changed Lorem the topic as they walked towards the nearby parked buggy.

"The Portal," said Anna. She was getting in the car when something stopped her, "How did you find me and why did you leave Vara and the others behind?" she asked

Lorem was surprised at first, but responded anyway, "I've had a feeling you could use a hand. Adine refused to come, even though Sebastian tried to tell her your behaviour couldn't stand in the way of the mission. Vara stayed behind to oversee the situation, as Adine is currently really upset and unstable."

Anna smiled to herself. Sebastian wasn't so bad after all. Even after her verbal assault, he still remained loyal to the team. Adine was protective as ever, so the act she was putting on wasn't surprising.

Lorem drove through the frozen wasteland. Lack of sleep was slowly eating the small dragon away. He could barely see where he was going by the time the Portal rose from the snow-covered horizon. There was no sign of the Rexa's aircraft.

"Where the hell is she?" asked Anna herself. "Maybe she got shut down, or had a malfunction?"

"The sentry crew of the Portal set all the AA guns to search and destroy any unauthorised target," said Lorem suddenly, "I was there when they did so."

Anna felt a mixture of panic and relieve built up. Her gut responded with being upset. "That's not good. If Alex didn't survive the crash, we could pack up and go home."

Their vehicle passed around the tall building of the Portal. Lorem checked out the AA guns and found out he was right about their function. By a quick glance, he could guess about thirty shells was put in the air in the last fifteen minutes. The muzzles of several guns were still emitting steam, as the falling snow melted upon making contact with them.

"They tried to approach the perimeter, but were most likely shut down," said Lorem. He put a claw in the air with his thumb up, like he was measuring something. "Guessing from the angle, about a click tops to the south."

Upon hearing that, Anna shouted at Lorem, "Look after the car. I am going inside the fortress."

The red girl double-timed it towards the nearby military base. She had little care if the state soldiers were there or not. If they were, that would mean Rexa had to get captured as well. If they weren't, that would be a completely different story.

Unfortunately, Anna's predictions came true. Lorem probably didn't mention it, but why would the crew set the AA towers to automatic, if they were still there. Lack of other defences was disturbing at best as if the State Guard didn't expect anything attacking by ground.

There was fresh blood on the metallic floor of the Portal control facility. Anna had a strange flashback of her fight with Reza. Like the Portal was haunting her somehow, even though that idea was completely ridiculous.

A screech echoed through the corridor she was in. Just in the front of her was a circular room with the control panel. There was also a window, that allowed a view on the Portal platform.

"Don't you see what are you making me do? Don't you want to feel good about helping someone in need?" screamed a half-insane raptor. Anna hid behind a door frame with a gun out.

"You are sick with schizophrenia, Rexa!" yelled Alex. He was holding his ground against much larger female and didn't seem to be losing at all. "I've been watching and I think I can help you."

Rexa grabbed the human and threw him on the floor, "Have you been ignoring me? The other dragons won't accept me."

"You are wrong. They totally would!" argued Alex.

"I wouldn't!" stepped in Anna, as the long argument started to bore her. "Well, at least I wouldn't accept you, Rexa."

Rexa hissed and let go off Alex. "Anne Bright! How did you get in here?" she slithered out a sentence, tilting to the side. Alex crawled back forward towards the metallic wall.

"Through the door and enough chit-chat!" said Anna quickly, raised the Five-Seven and pressed the trigger. The bullet made its way around Rexa's head and pierced the glass behind her. The raptor screamed in shock, her eyes wide.

"That's enough!" Alex limped over to Anna and put his palm over the gun's muzzle. He probably didn't expect Anna pulling the trigger if his hand was in danger. "You are not a murderer!"

To his surprise, Anna laughed with all the remaining breath she had. "Me and not a murderer?" She yanked the pistol from Alex's hand. "Don't make me write down a list. I've killed more than a dozen people in the last two days, just to prevent this bitch from wiping us out!"

Alex energetically tried to grab Anna's gun again, but the red dragon jumped backwards and shot the ground at Alex's feet. The human jumped as well and fell on his bottom due to tripping over his coat.

Anna once again regained her footing and aimed at Rexa, who was curled up in the nearby corner. Her stomach and feet were covered in her own blood.

"Who's the villain of this story? You or I?" asked Anna a rhetorical question before pulling the trigger.

The mighty Five-Seven barked with one last remaining gunshot, as the deadly needle escaped its chamber. Rexa gasped loudly and fallen over. She was shaking all over, but still managed to mumble, "Thanks to people like you, Anne, the world has to die."

"Yeah, maybe. But this is the only solution I can see and I'm not even remotely sorry," said Anna like she was putting a child to sleep. There was no relief in the air, just the gunpowder waste and a lot of unanswered questions.

Alex grabbed his hair and threw an angry look at Anna. "Do you know how long it took me to make her trust me?" the human shouted. Anna closed her eyes like she wanted to ignore everything that was going around her. Empty gun ranged against the floor.

Alex continued, "She was mentally unstable but I managed to make her trust me, that's why I wasn't in chains. She thought I was on her side."

"You really believe that, huh?" smirked Anna, her arms crossed tightly.

"I know it!" snapped Alex. "Everything was going fine until you and your pathetic rescue party showed up. There was no progress with her after that, because she became spastic, going from place to place, yelling at her mercenaries. She wasn't like that when I was captured. This whole community of hers, they almost seemed happy."

"Except they wanted to destroy everything you know, " pointed out Anna, "Like it or not, Alex, she was still a criminal and terrorist. She killed dozens just to get to you."

"What's the point, " groaned Alex, "You are stubborn, always going after your stupid goals, ignoring morale and rules."

"Couldn't agree more," said Anna, "This attitude got me this far and I have no intention to change it. Thanks to me, dragons will have a future."

A small blue reptile approached the arguing figures. He looked tired but determined. "I heard gunshots. Is everything okay?"

"Yes, Lorem. Don't worry!" yelled Anna in his direction.

Lorem was confused upon arrival why both Anna and Alex had an angry face on and he asked why they weren't celebrating. Anna brushed off the question with an order.

"Take Alex and go! He's got a wife and a city to reunite with," she said a picked up the previously dropped weapon of hers.

"What about you?" asked Lorem.

Surprisingly, Anna smiled at him and handed him the empty Five-Seven pistol. "Tell everyone you've shot Rexa. I've got lost in the wasteland on my pursuit and probably froze to death."

"What are you talking about?" raised Lorem an eyebrow, "Anna, where are you going?"

Anna gave him another sad smile over the shoulder on her departure. Soon, she was gone for good.

Lorem looked up at Alex, who was staring in the red dragon's direction. The human wiped some sweat off his forehead and said, "It's better for everyone. She became too corrupted."

"Is it better for everyone or just you?" said Lorem and sighed. "Nevermind, we've got a new place in the world to win and we need to settle this fight once and for all. Humans and Dragons have to coexist," he added.

And that was it. Nothing really happened after that. Lorem drove Alex back to the ruins of the old mine. There was the reunion of Alex and Adine, which was sappier then most of us could handle. The colony in the frozen wasteland had to be won back, but with Alex on dragon's side, there was not much of a fight.

Maybe it was because Anna wasn't with them. She had a lot of guilt on her name. The new governor understood and gave mercy to all the responsible people.

Peacekeepers as the organisation remained in power, acting as a government force instead of the secret police the previous governor had in place. Bryce couldn't be happier, as it meant a great future for dragons.

In a few days, everything went back to normal like nothing ever happened.

But in the end, few selected dragons didn't forget about Anna. Lorem was put forward as a hero and he was playing the role well. It didn't feel right, though.

In a few months, pieces of the standard-issue gear resurfaced in the near vicinity of the abandoned mines. Based upon that, Anna's status was changed from missing in action to KIA.

There was only a memory left.


End file.
